Kansai Electric Power Co. will resume generating and transmitting electricity at the No. 3 reactor at the Takahama nuclear power plant on July 26, the company announced on July 19.
The company had said the timing of resuming operations was undecided after a regular inspection that started in March discovered damage to heating tubes at the nuclear reactor in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture.
However, the company has decided it has done enough fact-finding and put in place enough countermeasures so that it can resume operations.
Of the company’s nuclear reactors, the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, are currently in operation.
The company plans to bring a total of five nuclear reactors online by the end of this year.
They will include the No. 3 reactor at the Mihama plant in Mihama, Fukui Prefecture, which started operations more than 40 years ago, as well as the No. 4 reactor at the Takahama plant, which is currently undergoing a regular inspection.
The government plans to have up to nine reactors operating this winter to prepare for expected severe energy shortages, including those of Kyushu Electric Power Co. and Shikoku Electric Power Co., Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced at a news conference on July 14.
Source: The Asahi Shimbun