Japan’s Chugoku Electric Power Co announced that it will restart unit 2 at its Shimane NPP in the prefectural capital of Matsue in August 2024. This will be the first time the reactor has been operational in 12 years and seven months. The 820MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) will be the first BWR to be restarted since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP in 2011 where three BWR units suffered a core meltdown. Following the earthquake and tsunami which caused the accident, Japan closed all 54 of its nuclear power units and introduced more stringent safety requirements for their restart. Of the 33 currently considered to be operable, 10 have so far been restarted, all pressurised water reactors. In September 2021, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority formally concluded that the reactor had passed safety review, a prerequisite for restarting. Shimane Prefecture Governor Tatsuya Maruyama agreed to the restart in June last year.
Image: Shimane nuclear power plant
