The Japanese Government has announced its intention to restart Units 6 and 7 at the Tepco-operated Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, located in the Niigata prefecture of central Japan. The Government said it will discuss the additional measures needed to restart the two units but has not yet given a schedule.
Units 6 and 7, both 1,356 MW advanced boiling water reactors, began commercial operation in 1996 and 1997 respectively. All seven units at the plant were put offline following the 2007 Niigata-Chuetsu earthquake, which caused damage to the site. Tepco had applied to Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for a restart as early as 2013. Tepco originally received permission from the NRA to restart the units in 2017, but in 2021, the company notified the NRA of malfunctions on the site.
In 2023, the Japanese parliament enacted a law to allow nuclear reactors in Japan to operate beyond their current limit of 60 years, in order to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a sufficient energy supply. Japan’s reliance on nuclear power was reduced following the Fukushima accident, dropping from 25% of the power mix in 2010 to 1% in 2015, and back to 9% in 2023. Before the accident, there were 54 reactors spread over 17 power plants (49 GW in 2010 against 33 GW in 2023, with only 11 GW currently in operation).
Source: Enerdata