Extending reactors lives

December 17, 2014

Kansai Electric cites progress in prolonging lives of Takahama reactors

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201412170038

By TATSUYUKI KOBORI/ Staff Writer.

TAKAHAMA, Fukui Prefecture--Kansai Electric Power Co. showed progress in its plans to extend the operating lives of two aging reactors well beyond the normal expiry date of 40 years.

Reporters on Dec. 16 were allowed to tour the premises of the Takahama nuclear power plant here, which is currently undergoing a special safety inspection required to keep the plant’s No. 1 and No. 2 reactors in service.

Although the acceptable operational term of nuclear reactors is basically set at 40 years, the Abe administration allows utilities to apply for an extension of the period by up to 20 years on a one-time basis.

Kansai Electric is the first utility to conduct safety checks toward that goal. The inspection is expected to take three to four months, Kansai Electric officials said.

The Takahama plant’s No. 1 reactor turned 40 years old this year. The No. 2 reactor will exceed four decades of operation in 2015.

After assessing the necessity for additional repair work and other factors, Kansai Electric will apply to the Nuclear Regulation Authority as early as next spring to prolong the operation of the two reactors by two decades.

Kansai Electric on Dec. 16 showed reporters a remote-controlled robot examining welded sections in part of the No. 1 reactor filled with water. A worker was also seen checking for cracks in the surface coating on walls of the No. 1 reactor containment vessel.

The company also showed a 5-centimeter-deep hole with a diameter of 3 cm in a concrete wall of the reactor building that is used to assess the condition of inside reinforcing steel.