Kyushu said the control rods were extracted from the reactor’s core and it started up at 10.30am today.
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The government plans to have nuclear power account for 20 to 22 percent of the country’s total electricity supply in 2030, compared with roughly 30 percent before the disaster at the Fukushima complex, despite the majority of the public opposing the restart of nuclear plants. The 890 MWe pressurized water reactor was expected to achieve criticality – a self-sustaining reaction – at around 11.00pm the same day. “Nuclear energy will not make any significant contribution to Japan’s energy mix – not now or in the foreseeable future”, said Mamoru Sekiguchi, energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan.
The government has been forced to spend an inordinate amount of its budget on importing fossil fuels to generate power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster that resulted in all of Japan’s commercial reactors being taken off line for stricter safety checks and upgrades.
The start of first reactor marks the first to restart following the Fukushima disaster, which prompted shutting down of all 48 nuclear plants in the country over safety concerns. As with all of Japan’s reactors, the restart of the units has been delayed until it has been confirmed they meet new safety standards introduced after the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
The president of the plant responded by saying that it would focus on safety above all else, as the plant gears up to be transmitting electricity to the grid on October. 21 after a final round of safety inspections, with an aim to resuming full commercial operations around the middle of November.
Almost 50 other reactors remain offline, while three others have passed clearances but have not restarted.
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The government sees nuclear power as necessary for the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to reduce climate change and wants to benefit from the relatively low production costs of nuclear power.
