Kyushu Electric Power Co. plans to restart another nuclear reactor in Kagoshima Prefecture on Oct. 15, which would make it the second reactor to go online in Japan under new safety regulations.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. plans to restart another nuclear reactor in Kagoshima Prefecture on Oct. 15, which would make it the second reactor to go online in Japan under new safety regulations.
The utility on Oct. 2 notified the Nuclear Regulation Authority of its decision to conduct a test on Oct. 14 to confirm the proper functioning of control rods in the No. 2 reactor at its nuclear plant in Satsuma-Sendai.
The test involving the control rods, used to control nuclear fission, is one of the final checks required before a nuclear reactor restart.
Despite anti-nuclear protests, the No. 1 reactor at the same plant in August became the first to resume operations under the new safety regulations that went into force in July 2013.
The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors each have an output of 890 megawatts. The No. 2 reactor has been out of service for more than four years since all of Japan’s nuclear power plants were ordered to shut down following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Japan has 43 commercial nuclear reactors.
Fukuoka-based Kyushu Electric on Oct. 1 began a four-day drill at the Sendai plant on dealing with a severe accident, such as the loss of power sources. The tsunami on March 11, 2011, knocked out all power at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, leading to the triple meltdown there.
NRA inspectors will oversee the drill to ensure the plant operator follows proper procedures.
If all goes well, the company will conduct a check of equipment in the reactor building from Oct. 9 by raising the temperature and pressure in the reactor to levels similar to those at the time of a restart.
(This article was written by Junichiro Nagasaki and Shuhei Shibata.)