By TAKASHI YOSHIDA/ Staff Writer
April 26, 2023 at 18:30 JST
The No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
OSAKA--Kansai Electric Power Co. is seeking an operating extension for two aging, problem-plagued reactors it operates in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, that would extend their lives beyond the maximum 40 years.
Kansai Electric submitted an application on April 25 to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for a 20-year operating extension for the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Takahama plant.
The two reactors will reach the end of their 40-year operating lives in 2025. The utility conducted a special inspection required for an operating extension between September and November 2022 and found no problems preventing a 20-year extension.
But damage to heat-transfer pipes of the steam generator was found in both the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors.
On April 24, the Fukui prefectural and Takahama municipal governments both consented to the replacement of the generators, leading Kansai Electric to submit the application to the NRA. The replacement work will take place between June 2026 and February 2027.
In addition, the two reactors have been beset by other problems.
In January, the No. 4 reactor automatically stopped operations after a sensor detected a problem. Utility officials believe a loose connection in an electrical cable led to the dropping of control rods within the reactor core to restrain nuclear fission reaction. Company officials believe shoddy workmanship rather than degradation of the equipment due to aging caused the problem.
The No. 4 reactor resumed operations in late March.
After the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, legal revisions set the operating life of reactors at 40 years, with a single 20-year extension allowable with NRA approval.
So far, four reactors have been greenlit for extensions, including the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Takahama. The application for an operating extension was submitted in April 2015 and approved by the NRA in June 2016.
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