Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co restarted unit 4 at its Takahama NPP in Fukui Prefecture.on 13 April after completing required upgrades to protect the plant against terrorist attacks and to fix system glitches, a spokeswoman said. Kansai Electric began powering up the 870 MWe reactor after dealing with upgrades, damage in the heat transfer tubes and regular maintenance and refuelling, she added. The reactor had been offline since October. Kansai Electric had restarted the 870MWeTakahama 3 unit in March, which had been shut since January 2020. Also in March, Kyushu Electric Power restarted the 1,180 MWe unit 4 reactor at its Genkai NPP in Saga Prefecture, which had been been shut for regular maintenance since Dec 2020.

As a result of the recent restarts, Japan now has seven reactors in operation with a total capacity of 7,060 MWe. The others are Kansai’s Ohi 4 (Fukui Prefecture) and Kyushu’s Genkai 3 and Sendai 1&2 (Kagoshima Prefecture). Others are completing upgrades or are awaiting approval to restart from the Nuclear Regulation Authority under the more stringent safety standards imposed after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Some have been permanently closed for decommissioning.