information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
3 Octobre 2015
October 03, 2015
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201510030034
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Kyushu Electric Power Co. plans to restart another nuclear reactor in Kagoshima Prefecture on Oct. 15, which would make it the second reactor to go online in Japan under new safety regulations.
The utility on Oct. 2 notified the Nuclear Regulation Authority of its decision to conduct a test on Oct. 14 to confirm the proper functioning of control rods in the No. 2 reactor at its nuclear plant in Satsuma-Sendai.
The test involving the control rods, used to control nuclear fission, is one of the final checks required before a nuclear reactor restart.
Despite anti-nuclear protests, the No. 1 reactor at the same plant in August became the first to resume operations under the new safety regulations that went into force in July 2013.
The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors each have an output of 890 megawatts. The No. 2 reactor has been out of service for more than four years since all of Japan’s nuclear power plants were ordered to shut down following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Japan has 43 commercial nuclear reactors.
Fukuoka-based Kyushu Electric on Oct. 1 began a four-day drill at the Sendai plant on dealing with a severe accident, such as the loss of power sources. The tsunami on March 11, 2011, knocked out all power at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, leading to the triple meltdown there.
NRA inspectors will oversee the drill to ensure the plant operator follows proper procedures.
If all goes well, the company will conduct a check of equipment in the reactor building from Oct. 9 by raising the temperature and pressure in the reactor to levels similar to those at the time of a restart.
(This article was written by Junichiro Nagasaki and Shuhei Shibata.)
October 2, 2015
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151002p2g00m0dm062000c.html
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan will restart a nuclear reactor in southwestern Japan as early as Oct. 14, making it the second to return to operation after the government introduced stricter safety regulations following the 2011 triple reactor meltdowns at a power plant in Fukushima.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. reported to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday about its plan to reactivate the No. 2 reactor at its Sendai complex.
The No. 1 unit at the two-reactor plant resumed operations in August, becoming the first reactor to restart under what the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls "the world's toughest" safety rules implemented after the Fukushima disaster. The restart ended a nearly two-year hiatus in the country's nuclear power generation.
The government plans to have nuclear power account for 20 percent to 22 percent of Japan's total electricity supply in 2030, compared with roughly 30 percent before the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi complex, despite the majority of the public opposing nuclear plant restarts. The government sees nuclear power as necessary for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in combating climate change.
Kyushu Electric finished inserting a total of 157 fuel rod assemblies into the No. 2 reactor last month and will begin final inspections from next Friday.
The huge earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, that triggered the Fukushima nuclear crisis, led to the shutdown of all of the country's commercial reactors by May 2012. Two reactors were temporarily brought back online about two months later amid power shortage concerns, but they went offline for regular checks in September 2013, leaving Japan without nuclear power supply again.
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Kyodo
Kyushu Electric Power Co. will restart one of its nuclear reactors on Oct. 15, making it the second to return to operation after the government introduced stricter safety regulations following the 2011 meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture, a source familiar with the restart plan said. […]