Ikata Nuclear Power Plant

Ikata Nuclear Power Plant

The Ikata NPP, August 2006
Location of Ikata Nuclear Power Plant in Japan
Country Japan
Coordinates 33°29′27″N 132°18′41″E / 33.49083°N 132.31139°E / 33.49083; 132.31139Coordinates: 33°29′27″N 132°18′41″E / 33.49083°N 132.31139°E / 33.49083; 132.31139
Construction began September 1, 1973 (1973-09-01)
Commission date September 30, 1977 (1977-09-30)
Operator(s) Shikoku Electric Power Company
Power generation
Units operational 2 x 566 MW
1 x 890 MW
Average generation 12,925 GWh
Another view of the plant

The Ikata Nuclear Power Plant (伊方発電所 Ikata hatsudensho, Ikata NPP) is a nuclear power plant in the town of Ikata in the Nishiuwa District of Ehime Prefecture, Japan. It is the only nuclear plant on the island of Shikoku. It is owned and operated by the Shikoku Electric Power Company. The plant was shutdown along with all other nuclear plants in Japan following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. Unit 3 was reactivated using plutonium-uranium mixed oxide fuel on 12 August 2016 and began providing electricity to the grid three days later.[1]

The plant is on a site with an area of 860,000 m2 (212 acres);[2] 47% of the site is "green", by comparison the non-nuclear plants Shikoku Electric operates are 13.8, 20.1, 21.2 and 45.5%.[3]

Reactors on site

Unit Reactor type Capacity First criticality Commissioned Type
Ikata - 1 PWR 566 MW February 17, 1977 September 30, 1977 Mitsubishi 2-loop plant
Ikata - 2 PWR 566 MW August 19, 1981 March 19, 1982 Mitsubishi 2-loop plant
Ikata - 3 PWR 890 MW March 29, 1994 December 15, 1994 Mitsubishi/Westinghouse 3-loop plant[4]
Energy production by unit of the site, showing fairly consistent performance (disregarding graph scale, which should be GWh instead of TWh)

Important events

Accidents

On March 3, 2004 there was a coolant leak in Unit 3.

Technical achievements

On August 13, 2003 the maximum burnup for spent fuel was changed from 48,000 MWd/ton to 55,000 MWd/ton.

In January 2006 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries announced the completion of the replacement of the internal structure of the No.1 reactor. It was the world's first all-in-one extraction and replacement of the core internals of a PWR reactor. The upper and lower internals of the reactor were replaced in order to accommodate more control rods and allow for higher fuel burnup.[5]

In 2010, a partial MOX fuel core was loaded into the No.3 reactor for the cycle beginning February 24, 2010.[6]

Maintenance in 2011

On Sunday 4 September reactor no. 1 was shut down for regular inspections. These check-ups would last at least three months. At that time reactor No.3 was also shut down, although the normal inspections were long time finished before September. To resume operation, a stress test was required for all suspended reactors by the government, after the accidents in Fukushima. The Ehime prefectural government said it would decide whether to approve the resumption of operations after the results of the safety test came out. The Shikoku Electric Power Company said that if the No. 3 reactor did not resume operations, power supplies would be very tight in winter when electricity demand would be high. It was considered to restart a thermal power-plant which had been long out of use.[7]

Nuclear evacuation drill held in 2012

In February 2012 an evacuation drill was held in the prefecture Ehime and Shimane. The drill was done to mimic the situation of a reactor cooling failure after a huge earthquake. The evacuation-zones were expanded from 10 to 30 kilometers after the disaster in Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In this evacuation drill some 10.000 people were taken out of the area round the nuclear power plant, with buses, helicopters and boats of the Maritime Self-Defense Force. The residents in the town of Ikata, commanded by disaster announcements on the radio to gather at a junior high school. From there they were taken by buses to a shelter some 50 kilometers further. This drill was the very first ever executed on this scale, and it was also the first time that so many people were evacuated out from their town.[8][9]

Unit 3 restart in 2016

On 19 April 2016, unit 3 received from NRA the final approval to restarting.[10] On 27 June, Shikoku Electric completed loading 157 fuel assemblies, of which 16 uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX). Unit 3 achieved criticality on 13 August and resumed commercial service on 7 September.[11][12]

Cultural references

Screen shot of Godzilla approaching the nuclear plant

In Godzilla vs. Destoroyah, Godzilla approaches the nuclear plant, and the actions of the Japan Self Defense Forces are stalled in action against the monster, fearing that a direct attack could cause a nuclear explosion and destroy the planet. Thankfully, the Super X-III weapon comes to the rescue and freezes the beast before he can do any more harm.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "Ikata nuclear plant's No. 3 reactor begins generating power". www.japantimes.co.jp. The Japan Times. 15 August 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. ↑ Yonden (Japanese). Energy for Tomorrow. Page 3.
  3. ↑ Yonden (Japanese). Yonden Activities to Protect the Environment. Archived July 22, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Nuclear Power Plants - Japan
  5. ↑ J. Uchiyama; K. Ajiki; H. Tamaki; H. Ouchi; Y. Nishioka (January 2006). "World's First All-In-One-Piece Extraction And Replacement Work Of PWR Reactor Internals" (PDF). Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 8 April 2016.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ Jaif (4 sept 2011) Another Japanese reactor stops for regular checks
  8. ↑ NHK-world (16 February 2012)Nuclear evacuation drill held in Ehime Prefecture
  9. ↑ JAIF (16 February 2012)Earthquake-report 349
  10. ↑ "Completion of the 3-step conformity review on the New Regulatory Requirements for Ikata Power Station Unit 3" (PDF). www.nsr.go.jp. NRA. 20 April 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Ikata-3 Fuel Loading Completed, with Commercial Operation to Resume in August". www.prnewswire.com. 28 June 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  12. ↑ http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Ikata-3-back-in-commercial-operation-0709165.html
  13. ↑ Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995) MMT Review!
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