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Japan Restarts Third Nuclear Reactor, a MOX Unit
02/01/2016 | Sonal Patel

Following rigorous safety checks, Kansai Electric Power Co. on February 1 restarted a unit that uses a uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at its Takahama nuclear plant in Japan’s Fukui prefecture.

The unit is the third restarted in Japan since the country’s Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) idled all reactors and began safety checks in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster. Currently, 43 reactors are considered operable, with about 22 in some stage of the lengthy process to restart.

In August and October, Kyushu Electric Power Co. restarted the Sendai 1 and 2 reactors in Kagoshima prefecture. The 870-MW Takahama 3 pressurized water reactor’s 157 nuclear fuel assemblies, including 24 MOX fuel assemblies, were loaded into the reactor in December.

The NRA, meanwhile, has so far completed safety assessments for Takahama 4 as well as Shikoku Electric’s Ikata 3. Experts widely expected that between six and 12 more plants will resume commercial operation by March 2017.

Japan’s July 2015–finalized long-term energy plan calls for nuclear units to provide between 20% and 22% of its power in fiscal year 2030.

http://www.powermag.com/japans-third-nuclear-reactor-a-mox-unit-restarted/