Japan's nuclear authority approves Ikata-1 decommissioning plan

It will be a 40-year process.

The Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority has approved a 40-year plan to decommission the 538 MW Ikata-1 nuclear reactor in the Ehime Prefecture, according to Enerdata. The reactor is the sixth one to be authorised for decommissioning since 2012, after reaching the 40-year limit, following Kansai Electric's Mihama-1 and Mihama-2 units in the Fukui Prefecture, Japan Atomic Power Co.'s Tsuruga-1 unit in the Fukui Prefecture, Chugoku Electric's Shimane-1 unit in the Shimane Prefecture and Kyushu Electric's Genkai-1 unit in the Saga Prefecture.

"The 538 MW Ikata-1 pressurized water reactor is operated by the Shikoku Electric Power Company. It began commercial operation in September 1977 and has been offline since September 2011 for periodic inspections. The decommissioning costs are expected to reach Yen40.7bn (around US$363m)," Enerdata said.

This story was originally published by Enerdata.