According to NISHIYAMA Masaru—currently the power company’s managing executive officer and director—and who is set to become its president next month (i.e., June 2025), “Although we deem nuclear power to be essential for us as an energy provider, specific considerations require various preconditions, such as funding, to be met,” highlighting a cautious approach.
Kyushu Electric Power currently owns and operates a total of four nuclear reactors: the Sendai-1 and Sendai-2 NPPs (both PWRs, 890 MWe each), and the Genkai-3 and Genkai-4 NPPs, 1,180 MWe each). According to the seventh Strategic Energy Plan approved by the national government three months ago (i.e., in February 2025), operators are allowed to replace decommissioned reactors with newly constructed ones on existing plant sites, classifying the action as “NPP replacement.”
For Kyushu Electric Power, which is proceeding with the decommissioning of Genkai Units 1 and 2 (both PWRs, 559 MWe each), that has opened the path toward new reactor construction.
Although no specific sites were explicitly mentioned for the proposed new construction, many anticipate that the planned site for Sendai-3 (APWR, 1,599 MWe) is a likely candidate for hosting a next-generation innovative reactor.
