Sendai nuclear plant to begin commercial operation Sept 10

Sendai nuclear plant to begin commercial operation Sept 10

National Aug. 30, 2015 - 06:21AM JST
KAGOSHIMA —
Kyushu Electric Power Co says the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture will begin commercial operation on Sept 10.

Earlier this month, Kyushu Electric began the restart of the Sendai plant, the first of Japan’s reactors to begin operation under new safety standards introduced in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

However, it had to halt the ramp-up of power output from the No. 1 reactor due to a problem with a pump in the plant’s secondary cooling system.

The utility said that seawater entered one of the pumps in the secondary cooling system, where steam that turns the turbines to produce electricity is cooled.

Operations resumed on Aug 27. Currently, the output from the reactor is at 95%. Kyushu Electric plans to have the reactor achieve full power on Monday and then begin commercial operation after a final check by the nuclear regulator on Sept 9 and 10.