Tokyo Electric Power Co Holdings has begun loading a second reactor with fuel at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP in Niigata Prefecture. The work to load unit 6 began after the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave its approval. It will take about two weeks to complete loading 872 fuel assemblies.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which straddles Kashiwazaki city and Kariwa village, is one of the world’s largest NPPs with a total power generating capacity of 8,210 MWe. The seven-reactor plant, which has been shut down since the triple meltdown at the Fukushima NPP triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 It is Tepco’s only NPP after it decided to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi and Daiini plants.
Units 6&7, both 1,350 MWe advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs) began commercial operations in November 1996 and July 1997, respectively. Both are advanced, each capable of generating 1.35 million kilowatts. The remaining five reactors, which started commercial operations between 1985 and 1994, are all conventional 1,100 MWe BWRs.
Once the necessary inspections are completed, unit 6 can technically be restarted anytime. However, Tepco still needs to obtain consent from the local communities. “To win the trust of the host communities, it is important to show that we are safely making technical preparations,” Tepco President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said earlier in May.
Tepco needs to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant to rebuild its operations. The company estimates that it can boost its annual earnings by JPY100bn ($691m) if one reactor is brought back online reducing fuel costs for thermal power plants. Tepco intended to restart. Unit 7 this summer after it was loaded with fuel in April 2024.
However, Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi has not yet decided whether he will support the restart, saying he needs to hear the opinions of prefectural residents, including mayors of municipalities. In addition, Tepco in February postponed the completion date of an anti-terrorism facility for the reactor, a requirement for its restart, until August 2029, long past the NRA deadline of October 2025.
The anti-terrorism facility for unit 6 has also not been completed. However, Tepco can provisionally operate the reactor until September 2029, the NRA deadline for its anti-terrorism facility, if it gains consent from the local communities. It could be restarted again if the utility completes its anti-terrorism facility in September 2031 in accordance with its revised schedule.
