Kashiwazaki Kariwa 1 back in operation

Monday, 9 August 2010 Following an inspection by Japanese authorities, unit 1 of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (Tepco's) Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant resumed commercial operation on 4 August, having been offline for over three years. Along with the six other reactors at the plant, unit 1 was subject to the powerful Niigata-Chuetsu offshore earthquake of July 2007 and suffered widespread minor damage. After lengthy inspection and repair, Tepco began test operations on 21 May 2010 but stopped when a technical issue came to light concerning a pump on a water feed line to the 1067 MWe boiling water reactor. Having rectified this, the process to start up again began on 31 May. Units 7 and 6 of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant resumed operation in December 2009 and January 2010, respectively. Tests to clear the way for the restart of unit 5 are set to begin soon, according to a report in the Denki Shimbun.