Japan's Hamaoka nuke plant completely shut down over safety concerns

Japan's Chubu Electric Power Co. completely shut down the Hamaoka nuclear plant Saturday following a request last week by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan to suspend the plant in Shizuoka Prefecture for safety concern.

The utility, Japan's third biggest, finished work at 10:15 a.m. to stop atomic fission at its last active reactor, the No. 5 unit, of the plant in Omaezaki, about 180 kilometers southwest of Tokyo. The utility began putting control rods into the reactor's core earlier in the day.

The No. 4 reactor, the other unit which was operating, was suspended Friday. The Nos. 1 and 2 reactors have already been shut down for decommissioning, while its No. 3 reactor was suspended for regular checkups.

Source: XinhuaNet