Another aging reactor in western Japan to be scrapped

Mar 27, 2018 | News On Japan

Mar 27, 2018 (Kyodo) - Shikoku Electric Power Co. will not seek to extend the operation of an aging nuclear reactor in western Japan, judging that the required safety investments will not pay off due to declining electricity demand in the region, sources close to the matter said Monday.

The No. 2 unit at the Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture will be the ninth reactor that nuclear plant operators in Japan have decided to scrap following the 2011 nuclear crisis, excluding those at the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi complex. Japan currently has around 40 commercial reactors.

The board of Shikoku Electric Power, based in Kagawa Prefecture, plans to endorse the decision at its extraordinary meeting Tuesday, leaving the utility with only one reactor to operate.

Following the introduction of new safety requirements in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, plant operators nationwide need to decide whether to scrap aging reactors or spend huge sums on upgrading them to secure state permission to operate them for another 20 years beyond the current 40 year-operational limit.

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