Japan’s TEPCO to partially restart world’s biggest nuclear power plant on Jan 20
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Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220km north-west of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
ST PHOTO: MASASHI SHIMURA
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TOKYO – Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) plans to restart the first unit of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s biggest, on Jan 20, TEPCO president Tomoaki Kobayakawa told reporters on Dec 24.
This week, the prefecture assembly in Niigata – the region where the plant is located – gave a green light for the partial restart of the plant
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220km north-west of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant
“As the company responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi accident, we will apply the reflections and lessons learnt... We will proceed with the restart, the first in 14 years, sticking to safety as the top priority,” Mr Kobayakawa said.
The restart of commercial operations of reactor No. 6 is planned for Feb 26, TEPCO said in a separate statement.
Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 reactors that remain operable, as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels, and in November outlined a public loan system proposal as it wants to double the share of nuclear power in the energy mix.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 gigawatts (GW), enough to power a few million homes. The pending restart would bring the 1.36GW unit No. 6 online in 2026 and restart another one with the same capacity around 2030.
TEPCO may decommission some of the remaining five units, it has said. REUTERS
