Japan Nuclear Update Takahama 3 and 4 on Schedule for Restart...

Japan Nuclear Update



Takahama 3 and 4 on Schedule for Restart

Jan. 14, 2016—Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved Kansai Electric Power Co.’s plan to conduct pre-restart inspections at its Takahama 3 nuclear power reactor on Jan. 23 and begin startup testing the last week in January. The company completed a three-day severe accident drill on Jan. 13 that included testing water injection pumps and involved about 120 site employees.

Kansai Electric said in a Jan. 8 statement that the 870-megawatt reactor would be connected to the electricity grid after Jan. 31 and power raised to 100 percent on a test basis by Feb. 4. NRA would continue its preoperational inspections during this period. The company hopes to resume commercial operations by late February. Takahama 4 is expected to follow its sister reactor into operation by about a month.

Kansai Electric won a legal battle Dec. 24 when the Fukui District Court withdrew an injunction it had issued in April preventing restart of the Takahama reactors. Of Japan’s 43 operable reactors, only two—Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai 1 and 2—are in full commercial operation, since September and November 2015 respectively.