At least one nuclear power plant in Japan is said to be on the verge of being shutdown by the country\u2019s new atomic regulator.<\/p>\n
The new regulator was set up in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster and it is reviewing whether any nuclear plants sit on active earthquake fault lines, which is prohibited under Japanese law.<\/p>\n
One such plant that falls into this category is the country\u2019s oldest reactor, Tsuruga, operated by Japan Atomic Power.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tsuruga is one of six plants the regulator is investigating \u2013 the others include facilities run by Kansai, Hokuriku and Tohoku electric power companies.<\/p>\n
If the plant is shut down, it could spell the end for its operator. \u201cJapan Atomic\u2019s survival is now in doubt,\u201d Takashi Aoki, a Tokyo-based fund manager at Mizuho Asset Management Co, told Bloomberg.<\/p>\n
He said the company would suffer $2.5bn in losses if ha to close its two reactors in Tsuruga and another at its Tokai Dai-Ni plant.<\/p>\n
However Japan Atomic, which is owned by the country\u2019s 10 regional utilities, insists the fault line below Tsuruga is not active and has branded the regulators conclusions \u201cregrettable and unacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"