Japan quake-hit plant may be shut a year or more

By Chisa Fujioka

TOKYO (Reuters) - The world's biggest nuclear power plant may be shut for more than a year for checks after an earthquake in Japan caused radiation leaks, prompting speculation of power shortages and deepening concern about the safety of the industry in the tremor-prone country.

Fears about the safety of Japan's nuclear industry have been renewed by radiation leaks from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) plant in the northwestern city of Kashiwazaki, hard hit by a 6.8 magnitude quake on Monday.

"It's no wonder that the people's anxiety and distrust over the safety of nuclear power keep rising," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in a weekly email magazine. "Needless to say, ensuring the people's safety is of utmost importance."

Authorities have already said the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, closed since the quake that flattened homes and killed 10 people, cannot reopen until safety is assured.

The government might order TEPCO to keep the plant closed for more than a year while a safety study is conducted, the Nikkei business newspaper reported, raising questions about possible power shortages during the peak summer demand season.

The report also sent the firm's shares sharply lower.

The shutdown might be much longer if the facility -- built over what now appears to be an active fault line and long criticized by anti-nuclear activists as unsafe -- needs to be reinforced, the newspaper said.

Japan's nuclear industry has been tarnished by cover-ups of accidents and fudged safety records.

The flow of bad news this week, including TEPCO's admission that the amount of radiation in water that leaked into the ocean was more than first estimated, has done nothing to ease concerns.

NO RESTART DATE

TEPCO spokesman Jun Oshima said the utility was unsure when it could restart the plant. "The priority is on being able to say that the facility is safe," he said.

Japan's nuclear regulator, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, also declined to say when the plant might reopen.

Analysts warn the firm, Japan's largest utility, faces millions of dollars in extra costs and a possible dividend cut if it has to fire up mothballed plants to meet heavy summer demand.

It's shares fell more than 5 percent on Thursday, more than doubling their losses since Monday's quake.

TEPCO has said the tremor was stronger than the plant, whose first reactor came on stream more than 20 years ago, had been designed to withstand.