SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it has finished installing nuclear fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor of its Sendai power plant in preparation for a resumption of commercial operations.
SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it has finished installing nuclear fuel rods at the No. 2 reactor of its Sendai power plant in preparation for a resumption of commercial operations.
The fuel rods, bundled together in 157 assemblies, began being loaded in the No. 2 reactor during the afternoon of Sept. 11. The work was completed one day ahead of schedule on the evening of Sept. 13.
The 157 fuel assemblies were initially stored in a pool in a building adjacent to the reactor building, and then transferred to the reactor one by one around the clock.
The utility intends to reactivate the reactor in mid-October and start commercial operations in mid-November. The reactor has an output of 890 megawatts.
“We will continue to engage in government-led safety screenings with the utmost sincerity,” said a Kyushu Electric official in a statement.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority’s safety examination is still under way at the Sendai plant, and Kyushu Electric plans to shortly initiate training procedures in the event of an emergency in the presence of NRA officials.
The Sendai plant’s No. 1 reactor was brought back online on Aug. 11 and became the first to resume operations on Sept. 10 under new safety standards put in place after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
However, equipment for the No. 1 reactor has experienced mechanical problems since its restart. The No. 2 reactor, like the No. 1 reactor, remained offline for four years.
Kyushu Electric said it will proceed carefully with work to resume operations at the second reactor to prevent a recurrence of problems.