The deadliest volcanic eruption in Japan since 1902, the Sept. 27 phreatic event at Mt. Ontake, has raised concerns that the country's two Sendai reactors may not be safe for restarts.
On Friday, Toshitsugu Fujii, professor emeritus of volcanology at the University of Tokyo and the head of a government advisory panel, said the realistic ability for predicting the next Ontake eruption was ”extremely limited.”
His assessment contradicted the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority, which had said the region was safe from volcanic activity for the next 30 years, the predicted lifespan of the two Sendai reactors in Satsumasendai.
The Sept. 27 event that killed 54 and injured 40 others came without warning. Volcano experts rely on earthquake activity to predict a volcanic event, but none of any significance preceded the most recent eruption, which was marked by a significant ash plume.
Newspaper reports list the deaths as being caused by flying rocks, cardiac arrest and burial under volcanic ash.
In addition to the dead and injured, seven climbers on Mt. Ontake are missing. A search for the missing climbers has been called off.
After the eruption, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the plant restarts would not be delayed by the volcanic activity.
The reactors are the first two of the country's nuclear power plants to meet the more stringent safety requirements put into effect after the 2011 earthquake that cripple three out of six reactors at the Fukushima power plant in northeast Japan.
The Sendai reactors were cleared for restarts on Sept. 10.
The 1902 eruption at the island of Torishima killed the entire population of the island – 150 persons.
Newspapers also noted that the active volcano Mt. Sakurajima is only 25 miles away from the nuclear facility.