6 Jun (NucNet): Japan’s Ohi-4 nuclear reactor unit in Fukui Prefecture, southwest Japan, entered commercial operation mode yesterday at 16:00 local time, operator Kansai Electric Power Company said in a statement.
Kansai Electric connected Ohi-4, a 1127-MW pressurised water reactor unit, to the grid on 11 May 2018 for the first time since the unit had been shut down in September 2013 in the aftermath of the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
Ohi-4 becomes the eighth nuclear plant at one of five sites, which has been restarted under new regulatory standards introduced following the 2011 accident.
Ohi-3, a twin unit, resumed commercial operation in April 2018.
Ohi-3 and -4 were the first two reactors to resume operation in Japan after the Fukushima-Daiichi accident but were both taken offline in September 2013 for scheduled refuelling and maintenance.
Their restarts where delayed when in May 2014 the Fukui district court ruled that it would not allow Ohi-3 and -4 to return to operation.
The governor of Fukui Prefecture allowed the restart of Ohi-3 and -4 in November 2017 after courts rejected challenges by anti-nuclear groups.
All of Japan’s 48 reactors were taken offline as a result of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident for safety assessments and upgrading measures.
The eight units that have been restarted in Japan since the Fukushima accident are: Ohi-3, Ohi-4, Genkai-3, Sendai-1, Sendai-2, Ikata-3, Takahama-3 and Takahama-4.
