JapanÂ’s oldest reactor 40 and counting

Tsuruga Reactor Extension gains local backing as safety approvals, quake-resistance guidelines, and construction delays shape Japan Atomic Power's plan; reactor lifespan policy, decommissioning, and utilities like Kansai Electric and Chubu Electric affect nuclear operations.

Local governments gave the green light to Japan Atomic Power Co.'s plan to continue operating the nation's oldest commercial nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, through 2016, paving the way for it to become the first reactor in Japan to have been in operation for more than 40 years.

In a meeting with Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa, Tsuruga Mayor Kazuharu Kawase said, "I have no hesitation in extending its operations if the reactor is safe, as Japan aims to expand nuclear capacity in the years ahead. The prefecture will also approve (the plan), based on opinions from Tsuruga city and the prefectural assembly," Nishikawa replied.

The local governments' endorsement of the plan will be conveyed to Japan Atomic Power, which plans to incorporate Mitsubishi reactors in future projects.

The No. 1 reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant, which started commercial operations in 1970, will enter its 41st year of operations on March 14.

By 2015, a total of nine nuclear reactors in Japan, including the Tsuruga No. 1 reactor, are expected to have been in operation for more than 40 years.

Japan Atomic Power initially planned to wind down the Tsuruga No. 1 reactor in 2010 when two new reactors were scheduled to start operations.

But the company was forced to change the plan due to a delay in the start of construction work that followed a revision to guidelines on reactor quake resistance by the central government, with some plants sluggish to restart after earthquake impacts nationwide.

The No. 3 and No. 4 reactors are now expected to go into operation in March 2016 and in March 2017, respectively, even as the largest nuclear plant awaits restart approval elsewhere.

Among nuclear reactor operators, Kansai Electric Power Co., which will also restart thermal units next summer, plans to continue operating the No. 1 reactor of its Mihama nuclear power in Fukui Prefecture, which will enter its 40th year of operation in November this year.

Chubu Electric Power Co., meanwhile, plans to decommission the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, and build a sixth reactor.

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