No. 3 nuclear reactor at Oi plant back to full capacity

By Jahanzaib Bin Liaquat

Correspondent, SAM Daily Times

FUKUI —A nuclear reactor in western Japan began full operations, the first restart since the country shut down its atomic stations in the wake of last year’s crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

KEPCO operator in Fukui Prefecture said its 1.18-million-kilowatt No. 3 reactor had come back to full capacity just after 1 a.m. The reactor has already shifted to a stable output mode without any trouble.
Nuclear restarts were put on hold as the government mulled its options following the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami last year that crippled reactor cooling systems at Fukushima. But in mid-June, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda gave the green light to restart two reactors at the Oi plant, amid concerns about looming power shortages this summer.
The government has asked business and households to cut back on their power usage by as much as 15% from summer levels two years ago, with the Oi restart expected to ease KEPCO’s power shortfall.