Noriyuki Ishii

Takahama-4 Restarted, Takahama-3 Resumes Commercial Service

At 17:00 on February 26, the Kansai Electric Power Co. (Kansai EP) restarted its Takahama-4 Nuclear Power Plant (PWR, 870MWe), and at 16:23 its Takahama-3 (PWR, 870MWe), which was restarted on January 29 and had been undergoing a period of adjustment operations, was returned to commercial service following completion of an integrated performance test by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).

Regarding the Takahama-1 and -2 NPPs, both of which have already been operated for more than 40 years, the NRA effectively approved them on February 24 as compatible with the new regulatory standards, the first such determinations for so-called aging reactors. In order for them, too, to be restarted, however, they will have to clear examinations and be approved for extensions of their operating lifetimes, for which the mandatory deadlines are in July.