SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--For the first time in two years, a nuclear power plant in Japan is officially back in business.
SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--For the first time in two years, a nuclear power plant in Japan is officially back in business.
The No. 1 reactor of the Sendai plant, which has an output of 890 megawatts, passed two-day final safety inspections conducted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority and resumed commercial operations on the afternoon of Sept. 10.
A safety screening pass certificate was handed over by Kunihisa Oba, a senior NRA inspector, to Nobuhiko Fujiwara, manager of the Sendai power plant, on Sept. 10.
Kyushu Electric Power Co., operator of the Sendai plant, reactivated the No. 1 reactor on a trial basis Aug. 11 after it became the first facility to pass the tougher safety standards introduced by the NRA after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Nuclear fuel was also supplied to the No. 2 reactor of the Sendai plant starting on Sept. 11.
Kyushu Electric plans to bring the second reactor back online in mid-October and resume its commercial operations in mid-November.
After the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant caused by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, all reactors in Japan went offline.
Although the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture were temporarily restarted after the disaster due to a shortage of electricity, their operations were soon suspended.
The restart of the Sendai reactor marked the first time for a reactor in Japan to function commercially since the Oi No. 4 reactor was suspended in September 2013.
Kansai Electric is also working to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of its Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, while Shikoku Electric Power Co. is proceeding with its efforts to resume operations at the No. 3 reactor of the Ikata power plant in Ehime Prefecture.
(This article was written by Junichiro Nagasaki and Takeshi Nakashima.)