Two more aging nuclear reactors are to be decommissioned in addition to three that utilities said had outlived their service life.
Two more aging nuclear reactors are to be decommissioned in addition to three that utilities said had outlived their service life.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. announced March 18 it has decided to decommission the No. 1 reactor at the Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, while Chugoku Electric Power Co. said it will mothball the No. 1 reactor at the Shimane nuclear plant.
The reactors have been in operation for close to 40 years.
The move follows an announcement the previous day by Kansai Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co. to decommission three reactors.
The four companies will notify Yoichi Miyazawa, the economy, trade and industry minister, of their decision as early as March 19.
The decommissioning will be the first since the central government established a 40-year operating life for nuclear reactors following the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.
The status of the three reactors owned by Kansai Electric Power and Japan Atomic Power will be considered as under decommissioning from April 27. The March 18 decision will reduce the total number of nuclear reactors in Japan to 43.
The five reactors to be decommissioned all had relatively small outputs, which meant the expenses required to meet tougher safety standards would not likely have been recouped even if the reactors had their operating lives extended for 20 years, the maximum allowed under new government rules.
Makoto Yagi, president of Kansai Electric Power Co., and Japan Atomic Power Co. President Yasuo Hamada met separately on March 17 with Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa and explained their decisions to decommission the three reactors in Fukui Prefecture.
Kansai Electric Power also submitted applications with the Nuclear Regulation Authority on March 17 for safety screenings that would be needed to resume operations at the Takahama No. 1 and No. 2 reactors in Fukui Prefecture, along with the No. 3 reactor at the Mihama nuclear plant, also in Fukui. Although those three reactors also have been in operation for close to 40 years, their outputs of 826 megawatts each were considered sufficient to warrant the additional investment needed to meet tougher safety standards.
Three reactors are already undergoing decommissioning: the Tokai plant in Ibaraki Prefecture owned by Japan Atomic Power, along with the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, overseen by Chubu Electric Power Co.