The restart yesterday of the third nuclear reactor in Japan to clear post-Fukushima safety rules is a small step in the country’s quest to re-establish atomic energy as part of its energy mix.
Kansai Electric Power Co is to resume operations at the No. 3 unit of its Takahama plant near the ancient Japanese capital of Kyoto. The country’s 40 other operable reactors remain shut down in the aftermath of the massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 that caused a meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. Twenty-five have applied to restart.
More nuclear-powered electricity generation would help reduce Japan’s fuel import bill and lead to lower electricity rates for consumers.
The restart is also to help the government reach its goal of having nuclear power make up as much as 22 percent of the nation’s energy needs by 2030.
NUCLEAR COMMITMENT
A total of about 30 to 33 reactors will need to restart to meet the government’s target, Daiwa Securities Co Tokyo-based analyst Syusaku Nishikawa said.
The restart at Takahama “underscores the country’s commitment to returning to nuclear energy,” said Rob Chang, a managing director and head of metals and mining for Cantor Fitzgerald Canada, which forecasts three reactors are to come back online this year, bringing the nation’s total to five.
Eight more are to restart next year and a total of 37 reactors are to be online by 2020, he said in an e-mail.
Japan’s power utilities were forced to shut down all nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, driving up its dependence on imported fuels.
Kansai Electric earlier this week said that it plans to begin fueling the Takahama No. 4 reactor as soon as tomorrow.
ENERGY IMPORTS
Japan imported about 85 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) last year, down by 3.9 percent from the previous year in the first decline since 2009, according to data from the Japanese Ministry of Finance, while thermal coal imports rose to a record.
The country’s LNG imports are to fall by 2.4 million tonnes this year and by a further 2.2 million tonnes next year, largely because of the restart of nuclear plants, Energy Aspects Ltd, a London-based consultant, said in a report on Wednesday.
Kyushu Electric Power Co restarted its Sendai No. 1 and No. 2 units on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu in August last year. They were the first in the nation to clear the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority’s safety standards, receive local approval and resume operations under the post-Fukushima rules.
Shikoku Electric Power Co’s Ikata No. 3 facility is slated to begin operating this year after receiving regulatory and local approvals.
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