Noriyuki Ishii

NRA Begins Pre-service Inspections on Takahama-3

On August 17, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) began conducting pre-service inspections on the Takahama-3 Nuclear Power Plant (PWR, 870MWe), owned and operated by the Kansai Electric Power Co.

The reactor had been certified in February 12 of this year for meeting newly-established regulatory standards, thereby getting permission for its NPP basic design to be altered. After that, the construction work plans for equipment and facilities at the plant were approved on August 4.

The pre-service inspections, which aim to confirm whether or not the safety countermeasures taken actually follow what was in the approved plan, must be cleared before the reactor can be restarted. The outlook is for the commercial operation of Takahama-3 to resume around mid-November.

In a press conference held by the NRA on August 18, reporters queried about the schedules for inspections at Takahama-3. According to the Kansai Electric Power, those are not expected to take as much time as those for Sendai-1 of the Kyushu Electric Power Co., which resumed power generation on August 14. In response, the NRA representatives said they would, to the last, deal with the matter without holding any preconceptions.