Onagawa nuclear reactor in Japan resumes power output after 13 years

Tokyo, Nov 16 (IANS) A reactor at the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture, northeastern Japan, has resumed power generation for the first time since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, its operator said.

Tohoku Electric Power Company said that the Onagawa No. 2 reactor restarted power generation at 6 p.m. local time on Friday. After an adjustment operation to check for any abnormalities while gradually increasing output, the reactor will be temporarily halted for equipment checks, reports Xinhua news agency.

The reactor is expected to start full commercial operation in December, it added.

The 825,000-kilowatt reactor, if operated at about 70 per cent of its capacity for one year, is estimated to generate electricity equivalent to the power consumption of 1.62 million households, according to Tohoku Electric.

The No. 2 reactor was reactivated on October 29 but was halted on November 4 after an issue was found with a measurement device. After the problem was fixed, the reactor was restarted again on Wednesday.

The three reactors at the Onagawa plant are of the same boiling water type as those at Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where the country's worst nuclear accident was triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

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