The Kansai Electric Power Co. company restarted a nuclear reactor at the Takahama plant in Japan this Friday, Kyodo reports. It is the first reactor commissioned in the last 12 years, after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The company is expected to resume commercial operations on August 28. The reactor was commissioned 48 years ago, and is currently the oldest operating reactor in the country. It was taken offline in January 2011 for periodic inspection and remained offline after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, triggered by the earthquake and tsunami in March of that year. In 2016, Japanese authorities gave the green light for the reactor to operate beyond the 40-year deadline set following the Fukushima disaster.
It was originally scheduled to return to service in early June, but the plan was postponed due to the need to carry out additional fire protection work.
According to Kyodo, of the more than 40 nuclear reactors in Japan, 11 are currently operating. With RT
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