TOKYO (AP) – A fatal accident, a nuclear reactor more than 40 years old in central Japan has resumed operations after being taken offline for a decade following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011 as Japan urges reduce its CO2 emissions goal.
Kansai Electric Power Co. said the Mihama No. 3 reactor in Fukui Prefecture went back online on Wednesday after workers removed the control rods in the reactor.
The reactor, which went into operation in 1976, is one of the oldest in Japan. It is one of three operated by Kansai Electric that has been granted a service extension beyond its initial 40-year lifespan, and is the first of the three to resume operations since the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown to expanded security controls and stricter standards at all Japanese introduced reactors.
Some residents of Fukui and the surrounding areas filed an injunction with the Osaka District Court on Monday over concerns about the aging Mihama No. 3 reactor.
The reactor had an accident in 2004 in which hot water and steam leaked from a burst pipe in its turbine building, killing five workers and injuring six others.
Kansai Electric also plans to build the other two aging reactors – Takahama No. 1 and No. 2, also in Fukui – to be put back into operation, which has been expanded.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who promised last October that Japan will achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, recently raised the 2030 target of reducing carbon emissions from 2013 to 46% from 26% previously. Japan is one of the largest emitters of CO2 in the world.
A revision of the current Japanese energy plan from 2018 is expected in July. The goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 will require drastic changes and likely immediate calls for the restart of more nuclear power plants and the possible construction of new reactors.
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