Chugoku Elec restarts Shimane nuclear reactor for the first time in thirteen years

The company Chugoku Electric Power said that on Saturday, Japan's Chugoku Electric Power restarted Shimane Nuclear Power Station in western Japan. It had been shut down since 2011, shortly after the Fukushima nuclear meltdown.

The 820 plant's megawatt No. The restart of the No. 2 reactor in Japan, which was closed down in January 2012. This brings Japan's total number of operational reactors up to 14.

Tohoku Electric Power has recently resumed the operation of its 825 MW reactor No. Tohoku Electric Power recently resumed operations of the 825 MW No. 2 reactor at their Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in northern Japan.

It is anticipated that the increased operation of nuclear plants will help Japan meet its growing energy demand from semiconductor factories and data centres supporting artificial intelligence applications.

As Japan expands its data centres, semiconductor factories, and other energy-intensive industries, the government expects that power production will grow from 1 trillion kWh to 1.5 trillion kWh by 2050.

Chugoku Electric has restarted the Shimane nuclear reactor after it was halted for months following the Fukushima 2011 disaster. This follows an investment of 6 billion dollars in safety measures, to meet the stricter regulations that were imposed post-Fukushima.

A company spokesperson stated that the restart will boost the utility's profit by 11 billion Japanese yen in the fiscal year ending in March. This is due to lower fuel costs as a result of reduced spending on fossil fuels.

The spokesperson said that the benefit had been factored in to the company's forecasted earnings.

(source: Reuters)