17 May (NucNet): The Takahama-4 nuclear reactor unit in Fukui Prefecture, southwestern Japan, resumed operation on 17 May 2017, after being offline for more than a year, Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) said in a statement.
The 830-MW pressurised water reactor unit was shut down on 29 February 2016 because of an electrical problem just a few days after it had been restarted for the first time since Japan’s nationwide nuclear shutdown was imposed in 2011 as a result of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
In March 2016, the regional Otsu District Court issued an injunction to halt operations at Takahama-3 and -4 in response to a request by anti-nuclear groups who said there were doubts about the station’s seismic standards and about new regulatory standards brought in following the accident.
In July 2016, operator Kansai Electric Power Company (Kepco) filed an appeal to the higher instance Osaka High Court seeking to allow it to restart the two units.
In March 2017, the Osaka High Court reversed the decision by the Otsu District Court, allowing legal operation again.
Fuel was loaded into Takahama-4 on 2 May 2017 and according to Jaif, the plant will be connected to the grid on 22 May 2017 with the aim to resume commercial operation in mid-June 2017.
Jaif said together with Takahama-4 there are now four power reactors operating in Japan out of the 42 operable ones. The other three are: Sendai-1, Sendai-2 and Ikata-3.
Jaif said fuel loading at Takahama-3, also an 830-MW PWR, was completed on 16 May 2017 and commercial operation is scheduled for the beginning of July 2017.
All of Japan’s reactors were shut between 2011 and 2012 under a political decision taken in the aftermath of the March 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
