Japan's Tohoku Elec restarts Onagawa reactor after 13-year hiatus

Chugoku Electric Power Co

29/10/2024 10:15

TOKYO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Tohoku Electric Power  9506.T 
resumed operations on Tuesday of the 825 megawatt (MW) No.2
reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in northern Japan,
for the first time since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011,
a company spokesperson said.
    The plant runs boiling water reactors (BWR), the same as
those in Fukushima, and was the closest nuclear station to the
epicentre of the magnitude 9 earthquake in 2011. It is eastern
Japan's first nuclear power reactor to restart since then.
    The long-delayed restart takes the number of Japan's
operational reactors to 13, with a combined capacity of 12,433
MW.
    As Chugoku Electric Power  9504.T  prepares to restart the
820-MW No. 2 reactor at its Shimane nuclear power station in
western Japan later this year, the country's demand for
liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to fall next year.    
    Increased operation of nuclear power plants should also help
Japan to fill growing power demand from semiconductor plants and
data centres supporting applications in artificial intelligence
(AI).
    The government expects power output to grow to 1.35 trillion
to 1.5 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) by 2050, up from 1 trillion
kWh projected for the current decade as Japan sets up more data
centres, chip factories and other energy-consuming businesses.
    For Tohoku Electric, the Onagawa restart follows a total
investment of 570 billion yen ($3.72 billion) on safety measures
to meet tougher rules adopted after the Fukushima disaster. 
    The restart is expected to boost the firm's profit by 13
billion yen for the financial year ending next March, as lower
fuel costs due to less spending on fossil fuels will offset
increased depreciation and amortisation costs related to the
Onagawa plant, its spokesperson said. 
 ($1=153.0800 yen)

 (Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
 ((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))