Japan to restart second reactor on Oct. 15 under post-Fukushima rules

Kyushu Electric Power Co. will restart one of its nuclear reactors on Oct. 15, making it the second to return to operation after the government introduced stricter safety regulations following the 2011 meltdowns in Fukushima Prefecture, a source familiar with the restart plan said.

Kyushu Electric reported its plan to reactivate the No. 2 reactor at its Sendai complex to the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Friday.

The No. 1 unit at the two-reactor plant resumed operation in August, becoming the first reactor to do so under what the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls “the world’s toughest” safety rules, implemented in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The restart ended a near two-year hiatus in the country’s nuclear power generation.

The government plans to have nuclear power account for 20 percent to 22 percent of Japan’s total electricity supply in 2030, compared with roughly 30 percent before the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 complex, despite the majority of the public opposing nuclear plant restarts. (by Kyodo, The Japanese Times)

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