Japan’s Onagawa nuclear reactor, which was restarted 13 years after the Fukushima catastrophe, shut down once more

This photograph exhibits the Onagawa Nuclear Energy Plant, operated by Tohoku Electrical Energy Firm, in Onagawa, northeastern Japan. | Photograph credit score: AP

“A Japanese nuclear reactor that restarted final week for the primary time in additional than 13 years after surviving an enormous earthquake and tsunami in 2011 that severely broken the close by Fukushima nuclear plant was shut down once more on Monday (Nov. 4). 2024) as a result of an gear downside,” mentioned its operator.

Reactor No. 2 on the Onagawa nuclear energy plant on Japan’s northern coast returned to operation on October 29 and was anticipated to start producing energy in early November.

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“But it surely needed to be shut down once more 5 days after restarting, as a result of a failure that occurred on Sunday (Nov. 3, 2024) in a neutron data-related gadget contained in the reactor,” plant operator Tohoku Electrical Energy mentioned. Co..

“The reactor was working usually and there was no launch of radiation to the surroundings,” Tohoku Electrical mentioned. The utility firm mentioned it determined to close it all the way down to reexamine the gear and deal with residents’ security issues. No new date was given for a restart.

The reactor is one among three on the Onagawa plant, which is 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the place three reactors melted down following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. , releasing massive quantities of radiation.

The Onagawa plant was hit by a 13-meter (42-foot) tsunami triggered by the earthquake, however was in a position to preserve its essential cooling methods working in any respect three reactors and obtain their secure shutdowns.

Japan’s 54 business nuclear energy crops have been closed after the Fukushima catastrophe for security checks and upgrades. Onagawa No. 2 was the thirteenth of the 33 nonetheless usable reactors to restart.

Final 12 months, Japan’s authorities adopted a plan to maximise using nuclear power and is pushing to speed up the restart of reactors to make sure a secure power provide and fulfill its promise to attain carbon neutrality by 2050.

Concern over the federal government’s renewed push for nuclear energy grew after a 7.5 magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s Noto Peninsula on January 1, 2024, killing greater than 400 folks and injuring greater than 100,000. buildings. It induced minor harm to 2 close by nuclear services and evacuation plans for the area have been deemed insufficient.