Sendai 1 restart pushed back to August

4 June 2015


Japan's Kyushu Electric Power Co. has postponed its restart of its 890MW Sendai 1 pressurised water reactor until mid August. The reactor was previously expected to start up by the end of July.

Kyushu blamed the delays on additional inspections that are needed before the reactor can resume operation.

In March 2015, pre-service inspections began at Sendai 1 and the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority has currently checked about 30% of the inspection items, according to the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum.

However, there is now a need to inspect facilities shared with Sendai 2, including emergency diesel generators, a low-level radioactive waste processing facility, tsunami monitoring cameras and an air-conditioning system for the shared central control room.

As a result, Kyushu says that inspection number 4, which occurs prior to fuel loading, has been delayed from June to July 2015, pushing the restart back by around two weeks.

Sendai 1 will be Japan's first reactor to be restarted under the new regulatory standards, and as such JAIF says it would not come as a surprise if more delays occurred in the inspection schedule.

The city hosting the Sendai reactors has given its approval, but Kyushu Electric still needs approvals from NRA and the local government before the reactors can be put back online. Sendai 1 was taken out of service for a periodic safety inspection in May 2011.

 



Privacy Policy
We have updated our privacy policy. In the latest update it explains what cookies are and how we use them on our site. To learn more about cookies and their benefits, please view our privacy policy. Please be aware that parts of this site will not function correctly if you disable cookies. By continuing to use this site, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our privacy policy unless you have disabled them.