The Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan has allowed Japanese power utility Kansai Electric to extend the operational lifetime of two ageing reactors at its Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture.
Takahama-1 and 2 are two 780 MW pressurized water reactors that were commissioned in 1974 and 1975 and are operated by Kansai Electric; the NRA approved a 10-year life extension for unit-1 in November 2014, and a 10-year life extension for unit-2 in April 2015. The units passed safety checks in April 2016. The approval of the operation extension will enable the reactors to operate until November 2034 and November 2035. It is the first time that Japan allows a nuclear plant to operate beyond 40 years.
Meanwhile, the Otsu District Court (Shiga prefecture of Japan) has upheld an injunction to keep units 3 and 4 of the Takahama nuclear power plant offline in Fukui Prefecture.
The 830 MW reactors 3 and 4 at Takahama were commissioned in 1985 and stopped in 2011 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster and Kansai Electric requested the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in July 2013 the authorisation to restart the units. The NRA approved a restart in February 2015, that was blocked by the Fukui District Court in April 2015 due to safety concerns about local evacuations in the event of a disaster. They were allowed by the city of Takahama to resume operations in December 2015. Takahama-3 restarted in late January 2016 and achieved 100% output on 4 February 2016. An incident involving contaminated water leaking prompted Kansai Electric cancelled the restart of the fourth unit.
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