Japan may only restart 7 more nuclear reactors in the next few years

Of Japan’s 43 operable reactors, only seven are likely to be turned on in the next few years, down from 14 reactors the Reuters news agency predicted would return to operation in an analysis last year. The survey also found that nine reactors are unlikely to ever restart, while the fate of the remaining 26 looked uncertain.

Japan will likely restart its second reactor in mid-October, 2015

Japan has been relying on record quantities of liquefied natural gas to make up for its lost nuclear capacity.

Kansai Electric Power, the utility most reliant on nuclear generation, sought to restart four of its reactors, but was blocked by the courts, despite NRA approval for restarting two of them. Kansai has appealed the rulings but the cases may take years to resolve, Reuters reported.

Japan Atomic Power is fighting a regulatory ruling that requires one of its reactors, which sits above an active fault, to be decommissioned. And equipment failures have slowed down Kyushu Electric’s resumption of nuclear power generation.

SOURCES – Vice, Reuters