Japan Atomic Power Company said its Tsuruga nuclear plant leaked a small amount of radiation on Sunday, 08 May 2011.  But this is not the first time.

On 02 May radiation was detected outside the reactors.  JAPCo officials think the radiation leak is coming from the cooling water for the fuel rods. They are shutting down the plant to inspect.

Tsuruga nuke plant is in Fukui Prefecture, directly west of Tokyo.

After first saying no, CEPCo now says OK they will shut down their Hamaoka plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because the plant sits on top of a convergence of fault lines, that could produce an 8+ quake.  The plant is not built to withstand such a quake, and the Japanese government wants the plant operators to reinforce the reactors.

The problem for CEPCo is that they have no way to replace the electric power that will be lost when they shut down the reactors.  The Japanese auto industry, and other manufacturers, are worried because they are already dealing with supply problems due to lack of electricity.  The shut down of Hamaoka nuclear plant will only make the supply situation worse.

CEPCo officials say that, so far, they can not come up with any practical alternative to replace the lost electrical power.

Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki have factories in the prefectures that will be affected by the nuke plant shut down.  Also, electronics makers Panasonic, Toshiba and Fujitsu have factories that will be affected by the shut down.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan had asked Chubu Electric Power Company to shut down their Hamaoka nuke plant, because it turns out that it is right over a convergence of fault lines, and scientists expect a magnitude 8+ quake.

Hamaoka is south west of Tokyo. Kan wants CEPCo to shut down the plant, and reinforce the reactors to withstand an 8+ quake.

CEPCo officials studied several options, including how to pay for the cost of reinforcing their nuclear plant.  They decided they don’t have the money to reinforce the plant, and it would not be feasible to raise electric rates high enough to pay for it (because customers would refuse to pay the higher rates).

CEPCo also decided that shutting down the plant would make the already bad situation, for Japanese industries dealing with lack of power, even worse.

CEPCo is not ruling out shutting down the Hamaoka plant, if they can do it with out reducing electrical power, and find money to pay for the reinforcing.

Tokyo Electric Power Company announced early May 2, that another of their nuclear plants in Japan is in trouble.  The Tsuruga nuclear plant is having technical problems, resulting in overheating.

The plant is around 450 km (280 miles) west of Tokyo, in Fukui prefecture.  TEPCo says the problem is so bad they are considering shutting down the whole plant.  There is a possible leak of iodine from Tsuruga nuclear plant #2 reactor’s nuclear fuel assemblies into its coolant.