Onagawa N-Reactor in Northeastern Japan Restarted after Issue

Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Nov. 13 (Jiji Press)--Tohoku Electric Power Co. on Wednesday restarted the No. 2 reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan.

The 825,000-kilowatt reactor had been taken offline soon after resuming operation for the first time in 13 years, since the March 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami that mainly hit northeastern Japan, because an issue was found with a measurement device.

Tohoku Electric expects to resume power generation using the reactor within this week, and says no changes will be made to its plan to restart commercial operation next month.

The Onagawa plant uses boiling water reactors, the same type as those used at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture, south of Miyagi, which suffered a triple meltdown following the 2011 disaster.

The No. 2 reactor was restarted on Oct. 29, but was halted again on Nov. 4 due to an issue involving the movement of an auxiliary instrument for a neutron detector, which monitors the reactor's internal conditions.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]