Kyushu Electric Power Co, one of the country’s most highly nuclear reliant regional power firms, on Thursday started regular maintenance on the No.1 unit at its sole Genkai nuclear plant, as planned, leaving only nine reactors online.
A total of 54 nuclear reactors had been available for commercial use before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, run by Tokyo Electric Power Co, triggering meltdowns and causing the world’s worst radioactive material leakage in 25 years.
No reactor shut for regular maintenance has restarted since the March 11 disaster amid public concerns over atomic energy and the government’s reassessment of safety regulations.
Kansai Electric and Shikoku Electric Power Co have submitted the results of newly required stress tests on a total of three reactors, taking the initial step to regain public faith in atomic energy.
Continue reading at Factbox: Shutdown schedule for 9 active nuclear reactors
