Japan’s Electric Power Development Co (J-Power) has announced further delays to construction of its Ohma nuclear power palnt in Aomori Prefecture, which is designed to operate solely on plutonium-uranium mixed oxide mox fuel.

Construction of the reactor began in 2008 after state approval, but was frozen following the Fukushima Daiichi accident in 2011. J-Power initially sought to start the operation of the 1380MWe reactor in fiscal 2021 but put it back by one year in 2015 and postponed it again to fiscal 2024 in 2016, and to 2026 in 2018.

J-Power said: “We submitted a reactor installation change permission application on 16 December 2014 for the Ohma Nuclear Power Station to be examined for conformity with the new regulatory standards by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Examinations related to tsunami, etc. are underway. On 4 September 2018, we announced that the construction of safety enhancement measures will start in the latter half of 2020 and will end in the latter half of 2025.”

The company added: “Regarding the examination of earthquakes and tsunamis, the issues have been narrowed down in terms of the site and the geological structure around the site, tsunami, etc. However, considering that the earthquake motion examination and the plant examination are pending in the future, we have no choice but to expect an extension of about two years. Along with this, it is expected that the safety enhancement measures construction will start in the latter half of 2022 and end in the latter half of 2027, based on the assumption of the examination / licensing period. The start time of operation is still undecided.”