780-MW PWR now oldest operating nuclear plant in country
Kansai Electric Power Company has restarted the Takahama-1 nuclear power plant in Japan, bringing to 11 the number of reactors now in operation in the country.
The operator said the plant, one of four at the Takahama site, was restarted on 28 July and reached criticality on 29 July. Following various tests, full-scale operation is scheduled for 28 August.
Takahama-1, in Fukui prefecture, western Japan, is a 780-MW pressurised water reactor that began commercial operation in November 1974. It is now the oldest operating reactor in Japan.
A regular inspection outage began at Takahama-1 in January 2011, two months before the accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi that resulted in all of Japan’s operable reactors being taken offline pending safety checks.
The identical Unit 2 was taken offline in November 2011. That unit is scheduled to resume operations in September.
Takahama-3 and Takahama-4, both 830-MW PWRs, were returned to commercial operation in February 2016 and June 2017 respectively.
In April, Kansai Electric asked Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for permission to extend the lifespan of Takahama-3 and Takahama-4 by 20 years, potentially keeping them online until 2045.
In December the NRA approved new regulations that will allow commercial reactors to operate longer than the limit of 60 years as the nation looks to increase the share of power generated by nuclear energy.
All the country’s commercial reactors were shut down following the Fukushima disaster and are not allowed to restart until they have passed stringent new safety checks.
Before Fukushima-Daiichi, Japan’s fleet of 54 nuclear plants generated about 30% of the country’s electricity. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency that figure was 7.2% in 2021.
Among the 33 operable nuclear reactors in Japan, 11 have resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards, while 10 are still under examination by the NRA.
The restarted plants are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4 and Takahama-1, -3 and -4.
