12 February, 2019
Kansai EP Reviews and Pushes Back Completion Dates for Safety Improvement Work at Three NPPs Granted Extended Lifetimes
On February 4, Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co. (Kansai EP) announced changes to its work schedule for safety improvement measures being carried out at its Takahama-1 and -2 and Mihama-3 Nuclear Power Plants (PWRs), and reported the changes to Fukui Prefecture.
All three units have already cleared safety examinations confirming their compatibility with the new regulatory standards and obtained governmental permission for extended operating lifetimes to sixty years, according to materials released by Kansai EP.
According to the status report on work for safety improvement measures released by the power company, the scheduled completion dates for the two Takahama reactors, has been pushed back from August 2019 to May 2020 for Takahama-1 and from March 2020 to January 2021 for Takahama-2. Installation is now progressing of the shielding—the so-called top domes—at the upper part of the containment vessels at the two reactors.
The extensions of some nine to ten months resulted from the need to ensure sufficient areas for equipment and materials ...more
- 19 November, 2018 Shimane NPP Proceeding Steadily on Safety Measures toward Restart
- 16 November, 2018 NRA Allows Tokai-2 to Be Operated for Sixty Years, a First for a BWR
- 17 October, 2018 Shikoku Electric Power Asks Japan’s NRA to Approve Ikata-2 Decommissioning Plan
- 5 October, 2018 JAIF Press Briefing: President Takahashi Foresees Progress in BWR Examinations by NRA
- 28 September, 2018 NRA Approves Review Report Finding Tokai-2 NPP Compatible with New Regulatory Standards
- 28 September, 2018 Hiroshima High Court Rules to Allow Ikata-3 to Restart
- 13 September, 2018 NRA Chairman Rebuts Idea that Hokkaido Blackouts Could Have Been Averted Had Tomari NPPs Been Restarted
- 6 July, 2018 NRA Draft Report: Tokai-2 NPP Complies with New Regulatory Standards
- 4 July, 2018 Court of Second Instance Approves Operation of Ohi NPPs
- 15 June, 2018 Fukushima Daini NPPs to Be Decommissioned as Well
- 30 May, 2018 Shikoku Electric Power Applies to Install Spent Fuel Dry Storage Facility for Operation in 2023
- 18 May, 2018 Council of Local Governments with Atomic Power Stations Asks National Government to Clarify Policy
- 11 May, 2018 JAIF, KAIF Hold Joint Forum on Nuclear Power Plant Safety and Decommissioning, Sharing Latest Knowledge and Information
1 February, 2019
JAEA Achieves 150 Hours of Continuous Hydrogen Production Toward Utilization of Heat from HTGRs
On January 25, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced that it had succeeded in producing hydrogen continuously for 150 hours using a thermal-chemical iodine-sulfur (IS) process that JAEA developed to more efficiently utilize the heat supply capabilities of high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs).
The thermochemical IS process combines three reactions using iodine (I) and sulfur (S) – sulfate degradation, a Bunsen reaction, and hydrogen iodide decomposition. It produces hydrogen by splitting water (an abundant resource) into H2 and O2 using heat generated without CO2 emissions. Moreover, the iodine and sulfur are circulated within the system, emitting no waste to the outside environment.
At the same time, given that extremely corrosive liquids such as sulfuric acid are used at high temperatures, for commercial use, it was necessary to develop technology for manufacturing equipment/facilities to identify materials suitable for different conditions and to validate their reliability. JAEA successfully developed durable reactor vessels for each reaction process.
Three years ago, i...more
