Kyushu Electric Suspends Power Build-up at Restarted Sendai Nuclear Power Plant

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Kyushu Electric Power Company Incorporated (TSE:9508) (Fukuoka, Japan) has suspended the output build-up at the restarted No. 1 nuclear reactor at Sendai Nuclear Power Plant (Satsumasendai, Kagoshima) after a pump problem was discovered, the company reported Friday. The reactor resumed operations August 11, roughly four years after it was shut down in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. The reactor began to generate electricity on August 21, and the company had been gradually raising output.

A condensate pump alarm was activated August 20, the company said in a press statement, and investigators believe seawater had entered the pump. The company said the seawater would be eliminated, but power output would temporarily remain at 75% before the power ramp-up resumes. Kyushu Electric had earlier planned to have the nuclear reactor fully operational on August 25.

The reactor is scheduled to resume commercial operations in early September.

Meanwhile, the Japan Meteorological Agency (Tokyo, Japan) maintained a Level 4 warning for Mt. Sakurajima, a volcano located 31 miles from the Sendai reactor. The agency ordered an evacuation of residents living within a 1.86-mile radius of the mountain's craters. The agency said seismic events at Mt. Sakurajima had increased, and the mountain was swelling.

Kyushu Electric and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority say the Sendai reactor is safe.

Kyushu Electric has installed filters to prevent ash from entering the vents of the reactor. Also, if the outer generator's power fails, and the nuclear reactors halt, Kyushu Electric will use the emergency diesel power generator that has been installed at the power plant.

Sendai Nuclear Power Plant is Japan's first nuclear power plant to restart its since Kansai Electric's Ohi Nuclear Power Plant's reactors were halted about a year and half ago.

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