IAEA has expressed support for plans and offered technical assistance
Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has applied for regulatory approval to load nuclear fuel into Unit 7 at its Kashiwazaki Kariwa power station in Niigata Prefecture, western Japan, from April 15 as it seeks to restart the facility.
Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world’s biggest nuclear station with seven units and a net installed capacity of about 7,965 MW, has been offline since 2012 pending safety checks after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Tepco and the government are keen to restart Kashiwazaki Kariwa. Tepco said in June 2020 it was concentrating its resources on restarting the newer Units 6 and 7, which originally began commercial operation in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
In January, Japan’s nuclear regulator lifted an operational ban imposed on Kashiwazaki Kariwa two years ago, allowing Tepco to work towards gaining local permission to restart.
International Atomic Energy Agency director-general Rafael Grossi has expressed his support for increasing Japan’s nuclear capacity and offered Japan technical assistance as its bids to restart Kashiwazaki Kariwa.
Japan is looking to its nuclear reactors to cut carbon emissions and ensure stable sources of energy. Prime minister Fumio Kishida’s government has signalled a major policy shift in favour of nuclear.
Before Fukushima-Daiichi, Japan’s fleet of 54 nuclear plants generated about 30% of the country’s electricity, but were all shut down for safety checks following the accident.
Among the 33 operable nuclear reactors in Japan, 12 have now resumed operations after meeting post-Fukushima safety standards. The restarted plants are: Sendai-1 and -2, Genkai-3 and -4, Ikata-3, Mihama-3, Ohi-3 and -4 and Takahama-1, -2, -3 and -4.
According to the International Atomic Energy Agency nuclear generated about 6.1% of the country’s electricity in 2022. The Tokyo-based Japan Atomic Industry Forum said recently that the fleet generated 81 TWh of electric power in 2023, about 50% higher than 2022.
