Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Plant Restarts Commercial Operations after 14 Yrs

Tokyo, April 16 (Jiji Press)--The No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, central Japan, on Thursday restarted commercial operations after a hiatus of about 14 years.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. switched the reactor into commercial mode at 4 p.m. after confirming earlier in the day that there were no abnormalities with the reactor, generator or turbine. An official from the secretariat of the Nuclear Regulation Authority handed the certification of the final check to the plant's chief, Takeyuki Inagaki.

This marked the first time a TEPCO reactor has resumed normal service since the March 2011 triple meltdown at the company's tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in northeastern Japan.

The resumption of commercial operations was initially scheduled for late February but was delayed by about 50 days following two postponements due to technical issues.

TEPCO plans to operate the No. 6 reactor for a year until its next regular inspection in April 2027.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]