15 Oct (NucNet): Kyushu Electric Power Company today restarted its Sendai-2 nuclear power reactor in Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan, the second reactor to restart in the country since the introduction of new post-Fukushima regulatory standards.
Nuclear industry group the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said the 846-megawatt pressurised water reactor unit was restarted at 10:30 local time today after being shut down for four years and one month.
Jaif said the unit was expected to achieve criticality – stable fission – at around 23:00 local time.
The unit will be connected to the grid on 21 October and output will be gradually increased to full in early November, Jaif said. After a final inspection by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), commercial operation should resume in mid-November.
Sendai-1, the other unit at the two-unit station, was restarted in August, and resumed commercial operation in September following the resolution of problems caused by seawater leaking into a condenser while power was being increased. Sendai-1 is also an 846-MW PWR.
In addition to Sendai-1 and -2, three other reactors have met the NRA’s new standards: Takahama-3 and -4,owned and operated by Kansai Electric Power Company, and Ikata-3, owned and operated by Shikoku Electric Power Company.
Jaif said Takahama-3 and -4 will not, however, be able to resume operation unless a temporary injunction prohibiting their restart, issued by the Fukui District Court, is lifted.
The Ikata Town Assembly and the Ehime Prefectural Assembly have both agreed to the restart of Ikata-3, but Jaif said the pre-service inspection has not begun and the actual restart of the unit is not expected at least until early 2016.
All of Japan’s 48 commercial reactor units were shut down for safety checks and upgrades following the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident. Five reactors have now been earmarked for permanent shutdown, bringing the number of potentially operable commercial units to 43.
In May 2015 Japan’s government said it wanted to see a 20-22 percent nuclear share in the country’s energy mix by 2030, down from about 30 percent before Fukushima-Daiichi.
