Sendai Nuclear Power Plant

Sendai Nuclear Power Plant
The Sendai NPP
Country	Japan
Coordinates	31°50′02″N 130°11′23″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	December 15, 1979 (1979-12-15)
Commission date	July 4, 1984 (1984-07-04)
Operator(s)	Kyūshū Electric Power Company
Power generation
Units operational	2 x 890 MW (gross) 2 x 846 MW (net)
Nameplate capacity	1,780 MW
Annual net output	12,901 GW·h
External links
Website	www1.kyuden.co.jp/sendai_index
Commons	Related media on Commons

The Sendai Nuclear Power Plant (川内原子力発電所, Sendai genshiryokuhatsudensho, Sendai NPP) is a nuclear power plant located in the city of Satsumasendai in the Kagoshima Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the Kyūshū Electric Power Company. The plant, like all other nuclear power plants in Japan, has not generated electricity since the nationwide shutdown in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011.

The plant is on a site of 1.45 km² (358 acres), employs 277 workers, and indirectly employs 790.

The reactors are of the 3-loop M type pressurized water reactor, built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Reactors on Site

Name	Reactor Type	Commission date	Gross Power Rating	Core Tonnage	Price to build
Sendai-1	PWR	July 4, 1984	890 MW	72 tons/uranium dioxide	278.7 billion Yen
Sendai-2	PWR	November 28, 1985	890 MW	72 tons/uranium dioxide	228.7 billion Yen

Stress-tests published in 2011-restart crises

On 14 December 2011 the Kyushu Electric Power Company published the outcome of the primary safety assessments or "stress-tests" for three of its suspended nuclear reactors: two of them located at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in prefecture Kagoshima Prefecture, the third at was located the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant in Saga prefecture. The reports were sent to the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. The papers were also sent to the local authorities of the prefectures where the plants were located, because the reactors are not allowed to be restarted without their consent. According to the test, the reactors could withstand a seismic shock of 945 to 1,020 gals and tsunami-waves of a height of 13 to 15 meters. The power company asked its customers to reduce their power-consumption by at least 5% after 26 December, because at 25 December the number 4 reactor in Genkai would be taken out of operation for regular check-ups. Nuclear power generation did account for about 40 percent of the total output of the company, according to company official Akira Nakamura. He said that restarting reactors was crucial for them, and that the company will do all it can do to win back public-trust. However, Hideo Kishimoto, the mayor of Genkai said that it would be difficult to resume operations. He asked Kyushu Electric to disclose their practices in full, besides their efforts to prevent future accidents.

Restarting efforts

On 10 September 2014 the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority declared that the plant was safe to be operated. Actual operation was originally expected by the end of 2014, following approval of local authorities, however, local and national groups and NGOS opposed the planned restart of the Sendai nuclear plants. John Large of the London-based consulting Engineers Large & Associates], provided opinion and evidence in an ongoing civil action in Japan contesting the restart of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant and separately Large & Associates prepared an assessment of the effectiveness of the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) recently introduced guide for the evaluation of nuclear power plant sites with respect to the potential affects of volcanic effects, specifically aligning this to the Sendai NPP presently proposed for restart following a four year shut down in the aftermath of Fukushima Daiichi.

In April 2015, the legal hurdles to restart the plant were cleared by a Japanese court, however, Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority subsequently quashed plans by Kyushu Electric Power Company to resume power generation in the summer of 2015, with a commissioner calling the plans to rapidly restart the Sendai plant "wishful thinking". On May 28, 2015, The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the station’s emergency plans, which was the last regulatory hurdle remaining before restarts could happen. Owner Kyushu Electric Power Company then had all approvals necessary for restart. On July 7, 2015, fuel loading of Sendai unit #1 began. The Nuclear Regulation Authority completed its pre-operational examinations and gave Kyushu Electric Company the green light to place fuel inside the reactor vessel.

Sendai's reactor no. 1 was restarted successfully on August 10th, 2015.

External links

• Kyushu Electric Webpage 九州電力 Template:Ja
• Sendai NPP c/o Kyushu Electric 九州電力・川内原子力発電所 Template:Ja