A local city council has voted to re-open the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant on the outermost western coast of Japan, despite local opposition and meteorologists' warnings of increased volcanic activity in the region on Friday, The Japan Times reported.
Japan, which sits on the "Ring of Fire" band and is home to 75 percent of the world's volcanoes, was hit by a powerful earthquake and tsunami in 2011. Following the disaster, volcanologists had warned that the earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, may have increased the likelihood of volcanic activity throughout Japan, prompting the government to order the closure of all nuclear power plants, according to RT.
Now with signs appearing to prove them right, the decision for Sendai, located near the volcanically active Kirishima mountain range, to become the first Japanese nuclear plant to reopen since 2011 could prove disastrous, the Japanese Metrological Agency's volcano bureau said.
Recent tremors and increased activity documented by Japan's Seismological Agency confirm that the sleeping Ioyama volcano, located 40 miles away from the damaged Sendai nuclear power facility, had awoken and was beginning to shake on Oct. 24, News.com.au reported.
A cauldron eruption at one of several volcanoes surrounding the Sendai nuclear power plant could hit the nuclear reactors and cause a nationwide disaster, said Toshitsugu Fujii, head of a government-commissioned panel on volcanic eruption prediction.
However, the government's nuclear agency has dismissed volcanic risks over Sendai's lifetime as "negligible."
Additionally, another nearby volatile giant, Mount Sakurajima, is also reported to be a very active volcano with frequent minor eruptions.
The new activity comes barely a month after the sudden and unexpected eruption of Mount Ontake killed 57 hikers enjoying its until-then scenic slopes. Prior to the eruption, there were no accompanying signs of seismic activity which might have alerted Japanese authorities to the impending disaster, according to Newsweek.
Meanwhile, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approved Sendai's safety features in September, but the plant must still pass operational safety checks before it will be able to reopen.
