Chugoku's nuclear reactor restart plan shows Japan's commitment to the sector

Chugoku Electric Power Company, Japan, said Tuesday that it plans to restart the 820 megawatt (MW), No.2 nuclear reactor at Shimane Nuclear Power Plant in December and resume its commercial operations in January.

The restart shows that Japan is committed to bringing more nuclear power plants back into operation. Shigeru Shiba, the new prime minister, has changed his initial opposition due to energy security concerns.

Japan currently has 11 reactors in operation with a combined capacity of almost 11 gigawatts. The restarts have allowed the country to reduce its imports of liquefied gas (LNG).

Shimane's nuclear reactor has not been in operation since 2012. The announcement of its restart follows Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Oct. 5, 2018 statement that it will resume the 825-MW reactor No. 2 at the Onagawa plant, located in northern Japan, later this month.

Tohoku’s long-delayed start would be the first time that a boiling water nuclear reactor is operational in Japan since 2011’s Fukushima disaster, which led to the shutdown of all 54 reactors.

Ishiba was sworn in on October 1, but he had opposed nuclear power during his campaign for election. He has now changed his tone regarding energy security.

Tom O'Sullivan is the managing director of the Tokyo-based Mathyos Asian Energy consultancy.

O'Sullivan said that running nuclear power was also cheaper. Japan, for example, spends billions on LNG imports which account for one third of its energy mix.

Japan's largest LNG supplier is Australia, but data from Japanese customs shows that the Middle East, which includes Qatar and Oman as well, supplied 14% of its imports last August. Russia provided 10%. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger; Katya Golubkova)

(source: Reuters)