ERUPTION OR NOT, NUCLEAR RESTART IN JAPAN TO GO AHEAD ON SCHEDULE (STA BREAKING NEWS and ARCHIVES)

by STANews , Monday, September 29, 2014, 12:15

white smoke rising from Mount Ontake at Nagano prefecture, one day after Japan's volcano Ontake erupted in central Japan.(AFP Photo / Jiji Press Japan Out)

Japan’s plans to restart the Sendai nuclear reactor won’t be affected by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Ontake, the government said. The reactor is in a separate volcanically-active area, which rose concerns for its safety after the Saturday eruption.

The eruption that is presumed to have killed over 30 people and left dozens injured is not a reason for a safety reassessment for the Sendai plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference.

"This was a steam-driven [eruption] and it has been said it was extremely difficult to predict," Reuters cites him as saying.

Opponents of the nuclear restart, who gathered Sunday for a protest rally in Kagoshima on the island of Kyushu in Japan’s southwest, where the power plant is located, say that is exactly why they don’t want it to be operational again.

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http://rt.com/news/191392-nuclear-reactor-eruption-japan/