MATSUYAMA--Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura gave the go-ahead on Oct. 26 to resume operations at the Ikata nuclear power plant, becoming the second prefectural government to approve the restart of idle reactors under stricter safety guidelines.
MATSUYAMA--Ehime Governor Tokihiro Nakamura gave the go-ahead on Oct. 26 to resume operations at the Ikata nuclear power plant, becoming the second prefectural government to approve the restart of idle reactors under stricter safety guidelines.
"This is a decision made with an extremely large responsibility attached," Nakamura told Hayato Saeki, Shikoku Electric Power Co. president, at the Ehime prefectural government building. "I made the decision after comprehensively considering the thinking of the central government, the posture of Shikoku Electric in working toward resumption of operations and discussions at the local level."
The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture were the first to go back online under the tighter safety regulations implemented by the Nuclear Regulation Authority following the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Shikoku Electric, the operator of the Ikata No. 3 reactor, could resume operations as early as this winter after it finalizes approval paperwork with the NRA and completes inspections before the resumption of operations.
The governor also presented to Saeki nine points on which he wants cooperation from Shikoku Electric, which include a thorough system of notification during emergencies; continued briefings to local residents; and support for disaster prevention measures to be taken by the prefectural and municipal governments.
Nakamura later held a news conference where he explained the reasoning behind his approval, as well as the measures he asked Shikoku Electric to take.
Ikata Mayor Kazuhiko Yamashita met with Nakamura on Oct. 22 and conveyed the town government's consent to resume operations at the Ikata plant. Nakamura was expected to meet with Motoo Hayashi, the economy minister, in Tokyo on Oct. 26 and pass on his approval for the resumption of operations.
No local government in Ehime Prefecture that lies within the 30-kilometer radius from the Ikata nuclear plant expressed opposition to the restart. The radius denotes the area for concentrated disaster prevention measures.
The approval from the Ehime prefectural and Ikata town governments comes about three months after the NRA approved in July the basic policy for safety measures laid out by Shikoku Electric.
The No. 3 reactor at the Ikata plant began commercial generation of electricity in December 1994. It is a pressurized-water type reactor, which is different from those at the Fukushima No. 1 plant. The two reactors that have resumed operations at the Sendai plant are also pressurized-water types, as are the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, which is also pushing for the resumption of operations.
The Ikata reactor was converted in March 2010 to plutonium-thermal (pluthermal) power generation, which burns mixed oxide (MOX) fuel that contains plutonium extracted from spent nuclear fuel. Operations were halted in April 2011 for normal safety inspections.
Nakamura's consent is the first granted for a pluthermal power plant since the Fukushima nuclear accident.