Tokyo Electric Power Company Restarts Unit 1 Reactor at Kashiwazaki - Kariwa Nuclear Complex

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Japanese energy utility Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated (TYO:9501) (TEPCO) (Tokyo, Japan) recently announced that it has begun bringing the Unit 1 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power complex back into operations. In July 2007, the Niigata-Chuestu offshore earthquake damaged the eight reactors, including Unit 1 at the complex. During the earthquake, the 1,067-MW Unit 1 boiling water reactor (BWR) and two other reactors were undergoing scheduled maintenance shutdown. During the earthquake, which measured 6.8 on the Richter scale, all reactors were put on "safe state."

In addition to structural and infrastructural damage, several facilities at the nuclear power complex were wrecked. Low-level waste and radioactive cooling water were spilt, and the external transformer stopped functioning and caught fire. Sources say that after performing detailed inspection and repairs, TEPCO decided to begin test operations of Unit 1 on May 31. However, there were technical glitches that have been rectified. The first test was performed under a pressure of 3.5 Mega Pascal (Mpa), followed by another 7 Mpa. Later, startup operations were performed to generate 20% power, which is expected to gradually increase.

Unit 1 is the third reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa site to restart operations. In May 2009, the Unit 7 advanced boiling water reactor (ABWR), with a capacity of 1,315 MW, resumed operations, followed by the Unit 6 reactor of the same capacity in August 2009. Unit 7 began commercial operations on December 28, 2009. Final evaluation of Unit 6 was completed in September 2009, which brought to light some faults in the control rod position indicator. The reactor was shut down immediately and restarted in January this year. Project officials said that since February 8, 2010, the Unit 6 reactor has been generating power continuously.

According to media reports, the total damage has been valued at about $5.62 billion. TEPCO reportedly has spent $233 million on civil engineering and repairs, $1.13 billion on inspection, and $18 million on geological surveys. About $4.10 billion of this expenditure has been made on plant and equipment replacement.

In a related development, Japanese nuclear power plants operated at a rate of 66.9% in April, marking eight straight months of gains from the same periods in the previous year. During this period, plant utilization rate of nuclear reactors also has significantly increased due to TEPCO restarting its nuclear power units. Presently, Japan operates 54 nuclear power plants, with a combined generating capacity of 48,447 MW. Japan is the world's third-largest nuclear power producer after the U.S and France.

In April 2010, sustained nuclear power generation helped TEPCO in reducing its dependence on fuel oil and crude oil by 80% and 33.33%, respectively. During this period, the company's average nuclear power plant rate was 56.9%. Japan, which has to import about 80% of its energy needs, relies heavily on domestic nuclear power plants. Presently, the nuclear power sector accounts for 30% of the country's power generation. By 2017, there are plans to increase contribution of nuclear power to at least 40%.

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