Japan’s Chugoku Electric Power Co is expected to postpone the restart of unit 2 at its Shimane NPP in Matsue in Shimane Prefecture. The initial restart schedule was set for August this year but is expected to be deferred until autumn or later. The reason for the schedule change is believed to be a delay in completing safety measures. Chugoku Electric Power originally said it would load fuel into the reactor in June, resume operation in August and begin commercial operation in September.
The reactor passed the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) safety screening in 2021. Chugoku Electric was working to improve measures against volcanic ash from a possible eruption in the prefecture, and to install equipment to monitor the state of the fuel pool. However, work to improve the safety measures was suspended due to a fatal accident at the plant in December 2023. As the company also needs to conduct a facility inspection at the same time, the completion of the work is now expected in October of this year, instead of May as previously scheduled.
Shimane 2, a 820 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR), has not been in operation since January 2012 and would have been the first BWR to begin operating since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster, which saw all of Japan’s power reactors closed. Tohoku Electric Power Co aims to restart unit 2 at its Onagawa NPP in Miyagi Prefecture in September. The reactor is also a BWR and may now restart before the Shimane 2.
Image: Shimane nuclear power plant in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture
