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Japan rehabilitates the largest nuclear power plant on the planet. Understand security measures and return to operations
If we consider the installed power, the largest nuclear power plant in the world is the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, located in the city of Niigata, northwest of Tokyo (Japan). It is operated by TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company), which is the third largest electricity company in the world, and includes seven boiling water reactors capable of delivering together more than 8.200 MWe.
This nuclear power plant fell into disrepair after the tragic accident at the Fukushima plant, despite its crucial role in Japan’s electrical infrastructure. Safety is paramount, and after the Fukushima disaster, Japan’s nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), decided to suspend its operating license until TEPCO could implement new safety measures derived from the lessons learned in 2011.
Japan is slowly coming to terms with nuclear energy
Currently, Japan maintains twelve nuclear reactors in operation, but it also has two more under construction and twenty-seven reactors that, for now, remain deactivated. In April 2023, the Japanese government approved new nuclear energy legislation that allows it to extend the operation of nuclear plants beyond the current limit, set at 60 years. In practice, this simply means that if a nuclear power plant can operate safely beyond those six decades, regulation allows it to do so.
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In this new context, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant has a promising future ahead. And this is due to the fact that, in December 2023, the NRA lifted the veto it imposed on this installation in March 2011, shortly after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
This milestone is the first step towards granting the operating license, and this regulatory body decided to do so after inspecting the nuclear plant's facilities for more than 4.000 hours. According to the NRA, the company TEPCO introduced improvements in the necessary safety measures and protocols so that the plant can resume activities.
Now the decision is in the hands of the Niigata regional government, which must also give its approval to the nuclear plant's facilities before it can regain its operating license. In any case, it is very likely that after the NRA's green light, the Administration will not hinder the resumption of activities at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant.
For now, TEPCO has chosen to accelerate its implementation and has already requested permission from the NRA to begin introducing the fuel rods into the plant's reactors. In all likelihood, it will not be long before we witness the resumption of activities at the most ambitious nuclear power plant on the planet.
Source: Nuclear hole
