Japan shuts reactor at world’s biggest nuclear plant a day after restart

Restart of No 6 reactor astatine Kashiwazaki-Kariwa works suspended aft malfunction related to power rods.

The restart of a reactor astatine the world’s largest atomic powerfulness works has been suspended successful Japan, a time aft the process began, its operator, which besides manages the wrecked Fukushima plant, said. But the reactor remains “stable”.

The No 6 reactor astatine the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant successful north-central Japan – closed since the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe – reactivated connected Wednesday arsenic works workers started removing neutron-absorbing power rods from the halfway to commencement unchangeable atomic fission.

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But the process had to beryllium suspended hours aboriginal owed to a malfunction related to power rods, which are indispensable to safely starting up and shutting down reactors, the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO) said. The duration of the shutdown was inactive unknown.

TEPCO said determination was nary information contented from the glitch and it was checking the concern portion suspending the restart operation. The inferior aboriginal said it was putting the reactor backmost into shutdown for a fuller examination.

“We were investigating the malfunctioning electrical equipment,” spokesperson Takashi Kobayashi told the AFP quality agency.

The reactor “is unchangeable and determination is nary radioactive interaction outside”, helium said.

Control rods are a instrumentality utilized to power the atomic concatenation absorption successful the reactor core, which tin beryllium accelerated by somewhat withdrawing them, oregon slowed down oregon stopped wholly by inserting them deeper.

The restart, initially scheduled for Tuesday, had been pushed backmost aft different method contented related to the rods’ removal was detected past play – a occupation that was resolved connected Sunday, according to TEPCO.

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest atomic powerfulness works by imaginable capacity, though conscionable 1 reactor of 7 was restarted.

The installation was taken offline erstwhile Japan pulled the plug connected atomic powerfulness aft a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent 3 reactors astatine the Fukushima atomic works into meltdown successful 2011.

However, resource-poor Japan present wants to revive atomic vigor to trim its reliance connected fossil fuels, execute c neutrality by 2050 and conscionable increasing vigor needs from artificial intelligence.

Fourteen different atomic reactors person restarted crossed Japan since 2011, but the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, astir 220 kilometres (135 miles) northwest of Tokyo, is the archetypal TEPCO-run portion to resume production.

The institution besides operates the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, present being decommissioned.

A restart of the No 6 reactor could make an further 1.35 cardinal kilowatts of electricity, capable to powerfulness much than 1 cardinal households successful the superior region.

Public sentiment successful Niigata is profoundly divided: astir 60 percent of residents reason the restart, portion 37 percent enactment it, according to a survey conducted successful September.

“It’s Tokyo’s energy that is produced successful Kashiwazaki, truthful wherefore should the radical present beryllium enactment astatine risk? That makes nary sense,” Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old resident, told AFP this week during a protestation successful beforehand of the plant.

Earlier this month, 7 groups opposing the restart submitted a petition signed by astir 40,000 radical to TEPCO and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, saying that the works sits connected an progressive seismic responsibility portion and noting it was struck by a beardown quake successful 2007.