Japan plans stress tests for all its nuclear plants'

After the Fukushima crisis Japan plans to carry out safety tests on all its nuclear power plants.

The earthquake and tsunami in March that caused extensive damage to the Fukushima power plant operated by Tepco has led to 35 of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants being idled owing to public concerns over nuclear safety.

The six-reactor Fukushima 1 nuclear power complex was designed to withstand tsunami waves of under 6 meters, but was hit by waves of up to 14 meters on 11 March, which damaged the plant's primary cooling systems and back up generators, leading to a melting of the nuclear cores of the reactors.

Even as engineers are still at work to shut down the Fukushima reactor, which has been leaking radioactive material and fuelling public fears, industry minister Banri Kaieda said on Wednesday that all the 54 reactors in country are now due to undergo "stress tests" to determine how well they can withstand major disasters.

The idled reactors, which have been shut down for preventive maintenance checks, have already caused power shortages resulting in the government resorting to compulsory power cuts for the first time in 37 years. (See: Japan implements compulsory power cuts for the first time in 37 years.)

Fukushima governor Yasushi Furukawa, who had earlier said that he was worried about restarting two reactors, announced yesterday that he would await the results of the new stress tests before deciding whether to allow two reactors at the Genkai nuclear plant to be restarted.