Japan Nuclear Power Sector Awakens After Long Sleep

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 08/11/15

Dr. Conca reports that amid a few protests by anti-nuclear groups, Japan restarted the first of its shuttered nuclear reactors today, four years after the Fukushima disaster closed all of that nuclear plants in Japan. There were no problems during the restart. Owned and operated by Kyushu Electric Power Company, the Sendai nuclear reactors were the first approved for restart under the upgraded nuclear standards put in place by Japan new Nuclear Regulation Authority. After spending about $100 million, Sendai nuclear reactors 1 and 2 have both cleared Japan NRA safety examinations and met new post-Fukushima regulatory standards. Unit 1 restarted first this morning. Unit 2 will follow in two months. Both are occurring under the biggest microscope in history. All of Japan 48 commercial reactor units were shut down for safety checks and upgrades following the 2011 accident, and 25 plants have applied to be restarted under the new safety standards. The reactors at Sendai are M-type pressurized water reactors built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. They are about 15 years younger than TEPCOs Fukushima boiling water reactors. Sendai passed its final weeklong applied safety inspection last week. The fuel was already loaded. Technical operational plans and procedures were approved by the NRA over the last year. Sendai Unit 1 is expected to generate power by the end of this week and be reconnected to the grid by the end of the month. According to Shunichi Tanaka, NRA Chairman, We will make completely sure that the reactor is operating as it should. A disaster like that at Tokyo Electric Power Fukushima Daiichi will not occur. Japans Nuclear Regulation Authority recently approved the restart of Shikoku Electric Power Company Ikata 3 reactor, the fifth to receive approval to restart. Kansai Electric Power Company Takahama 3 just submitted its 45,000-page revised engineering work document to the NRA, a major step in the restart path.