Shimane N-Reactor to Go Back Online Dec. 7

Matsue, Shimane Pref., Nov. 11 (Jiji Press)--Chugoku Electric Power Co. notified the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Monday that it plans to restart the No. 2 reactor at its Shimane nuclear power plant in western Japan on Dec. 7.

The Shimane No. 2 unit will be the second boiling water reactor, after the No. 2 unit at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, to be brought back online since reactors of the same type were crippled in the March 2011 accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant in northeastern Japan.

According to Chugoku Electric, the control rods that suppress the fission reaction at the Shimane reactor will be removed on Dec. 7. The reactor is scheduled to begin commercial operation in early January.

The Shimane plant is the only nuclear power plant located in a prefectural capital in the country. The No. 2 reactor was shut down in January 2012 for a routine inspection.

Chugoku Electric completed work to implement safety measures for the reactor last month, and finished loading nuclear fuel into the reactor on Nov. 3.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]