8 Aug (NucNet): The Ikata-3 nuclear unit in Ehime Prefecture, southern Japan, will start generating electricity on 15 August 2016 after workers complete the replacement of parts on the 846-MW reactor, owner and operator Shikoku Electric Power Company said. The company said it expects to resume normal commercial operation in early September. The utility said it had originally planned to start commercial operation of the unit in late August. The delay is due to the need to replace the seals on three reactor coolant pumps, the company said. There are three units at the Ikata nuclear station. Shikoku Electric has already said it plans to decommission Ikata1 because projected financial returns from operating the reactor will be “insufficient” to justify the high expected costs of necessary safety measures. The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum said four reactors have been restarted in Japan after clearing examinations under the new regulatory standards imposed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority following the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident. They are Sendai-1 and -2 and Takahama-3 and -4, although the Takahama units have since been taken offline after a court issued a temporary injunction following protests lodged by anti-nuclear activists. Applications for 22 additional reactor restarts have been filed. All of Japan’s 48 commercial reactor units were shut after Fukushima-Daiichi. Five reactors have been earmarked for permanent shutdown, bringing the number of potentially operable commercial units to 43.
