Ikata Reactor to Restart Friday August 12

Shikoku Electric Power Co.’s Ikata nuclear power plant is shown in this photo taken in July.

Ikata nuclear reactor to be restarted this week

Workers at the Ikata nuclear power plant in western Japan are engaged in the final inspection of control rods ahead of a planned restart of a reactor there on Friday.
The Ikata plant will be the 3rd to come back online under new regulations adopted after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident.
Inspectors from the Nuclear Regulation Authority are also participating in the final checkups on Wednesday at the plant’s number 3 reactor, operated by Shikoku Electric Power Company.
The checks include confirming whether 16 control rods work properly in the reactor. They are designed to operate automatically during an earthquake and other emergencies.
If the inspection finds no problems, workers will restart the reactor on Friday by pulling out the control rods. The operator plans to start generating electricity and feeding it to the grid 3 days later.
The company initially planned the restart for late July. But trouble with a water cooling pump caused a delay.
Two reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan, have already resumed power generation.
The regulator also approved the restart of 2 reactors at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan. But a court injunction suspended their operation.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20160810_23/

Ikata nuclear reactor to restart on Friday morning

MATSUYAMA, EHIME PREF. – Shikoku Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it will reactivate the No. 3 reactor at its Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture around 9 a.m. on Friday.

It will be the first time in some five years and three months for the reactor to be switched on, since it was suspended for a routine safety inspection in April 2011.

The Ikata No. 3 reactor will be the fifth to go back online under the county’s new safety regulations, introduced in July 2013 after the March 2011 nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The Ikata plant will be the second nuclear plant in operation in Japan, joining Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture.

The reactivated reactor is slated to reach criticality, or a self-sustained nuclear fission chain reaction, early on Saturday morning. On Monday, it will begin the generation and transmission of electricity, reaching full capacity on Aug. 22.

Shikoku Electric aims to start the plant’s commercial operations in early September.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/08/10/national/ikata-nuclear-reactor-to-restart-on-friday-morning/#.V6zFfzXKO-c

August 11, 2016 - Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Ikata NPP, Reactor Restart