Japan should have a nuclear reactor restart in July and China is buying into the French nuclear industry

1. Japan’s nuclear regulator has approved Kyushu Electric Power Company’s ‘construction plan’ for unit 2 of its Sendai nuclear power plant. The company hopes to restart unit 1 of the plant in July, with unit 2 following within months.

Over the next 4-5 years Japan could restart 4 to ten reactors per year.

Sendai nuclear plant

Up until the 2011 Fukushima accident, Japan had the third most nuclear power generation in the world.

2. Chinese nuclear companies are buying an interest in the French Nuclear Industry

France has the second most nuclear power generation in the world. China has about the fifth most but should be the third most by 2016.

China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) and China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) are going to obtain stakes in French nuclear company Areva while another Chinese company is thinking about creating a joint venture, a CNNC employee told the Global Times on Thursday.

Chinese nuclear companies have already shown interest in cooperating with Areva, said an employee from the CNNC who refused to be named. “CNNC has been pushing forward cooperation with Areva in processing nuclear waste and developing safety-related control systems,” he said, noting that CNNC will join French state-controlled power utility company Eléctricité de France SA (EDF) in seeking to reorganize the French nuclear sector.

EDF officially proposed to purchase the reactor business of Areva, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Tuesday. The French government owns 87 percent of Areva and 84.5 percent of EDF, according to Le Monde. Areva, however, recorded a loss of 4.8 billion euros ( $ 5.35 billion) in 2014, which made the French government decide to restructure the country’s nuclear industry.