Stress tests delay restart of Japan reactors

Japan's idled nuclear reactors could restart work if they pass the first stage of two-step post-Fukushima safety checks, the government said on Monday. Still, without a time frame for the tests, concerns remain about summer power shortages that could hurt the economy. Last week's surprise announcement that the government would conduct stress tests alarmed corporate Japan and outraged some local authorities, who had been prepared to approve reactor restarts. The first stage of the stress tests will assess resistance to severe earthquakes and other extreme events at reactors that have already completed routine checks and are ready for restart. A second stage of tests will make a comprehensive safety assessment of all 54 of Japan's reactors. "Safety and a sense of security are the top priority," chief cabinet secretary Yukio Edano told a news conference but gave no precise timeframe for completing either of the two stages. The new assessment scheme, which also lacks detailed procedures, did little to elucidate atomic safety policy for reactor hosting-municipalities, whose approval is by custom required to restart reactors. "I'm afraid we are still in the dark as to what the government wants to do," said Shigenobu Oniki, vice-mayor of the southern Japanese town of Genkai, home of Kyushu Electric Power's Genkai nuclear power plant, which the government had hinted would be among prime candidates for the first restarts since the Fukushima crisis. From / Gulf News