Oct 30 (NHK– The operator of a nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, restarted one of its reactors on Tuesday, more than 13 years after it suffered damage in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
The 2011 disaster cut off reactor No. 2 from many of its external energy sources, flooding the underground facility.
Tohoku Electric Power Company has taken disaster response measures, including raising the factory’s seawall to 29 meters above sea level. Reactor No. 2 passed a Nuclear Regulation Authority screening in 2020. Later, construction work for safety measures and state inspections was completed.
On Tuesday night, Tohoku Electric reactivated the reactor by removing the control rods. The utility expects the reactor to reach a self-sustaining chain reaction later this evening and power generation to begin in early November.
Reactor No. 2 is a boiling water reactor, the same type used at the crippled Daiichi plant in Fukushima. It is the first reactor of its kind to restart after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and the first to resume operations in the area affected by the disaster.
So far, all twelve reactors in western Japan have restarted after the disaster. The Onagawa No.2 reactor is the first in eastern Japan to be reactivated.
The government plans to use nuclear energy generation as much as possible to achieve a carbon-free society and guarantee a stable energy supply.
There are plans to restart the second reactor of the Shimane nuclear power plant, which is also a boiling water reactor, in December. The factory is operated by Chugoku Electric Power Company.
Power companies aim to resume operations at other nuclear power plants across the country, including the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture and the Tokai No. 2 nuclear power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, after gaining the understanding of local residents.
