Fuel loading began on 24 June at unit 3 of Japan's at Ikata NPP in Ehime prefecture. Shikoku Electric Power Company plans to restart the reactor in late July. Sixteen of the 157 units of fuel rods contain mixed oxide fuel. The reactor's operations were suspended in April 2011, following the Fukushima accident. The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) decided last year that the unit 3 satisfied the new stricter post-Fukushima. In April, NRA approved the operational safety programmes for Ikata and has since conducted pre-operational inspections at unit 3. Ikata will be the third NPP to be restarted under the new regulations, following the Sendai plant in southwestern Japan and the Takahama plant in central Japan, although the two reactors at Takahama are now offline under a court injunction.
