Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said Thursday that it has abandoned a plan to complete by the October 2025 deadline an antiterrorism facility for the No. 7 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Takeyuki Inagaki, head of the plant, told a press conference that the completion date will be pushed back significantly to August 2029 from the previous target of March 2025.
"The screening process has been prolonged as it took time to review detailed designs," Inagaki said. He also cited a shortage of labor.
While Tepco aims to restart both the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, Inagaki said, "We haven't changed our hope to restart the No. 7 unit first."
For restarting the No. 7 reactor, Tepco has completed preparations and is awaiting the consent of local governments. But the reactor is now expected to remain offline for a prolonged period, weighing further on the company's management.
Tepco also postponed the completion of an antiterrorism facility at the No. 6 reactor from September 2026 to September 2031.
Japan's new safety standards require nuclear reactors to have antiterrorism facilities. If power plant operators fail to complete the construction of such facilities within five years of the approval of construction plans for nuclear plants, the Nuclear Regulation Authority could prohibit the use of the plants.
In addition to the need to take safety measures for its nuclear plants, Tepco has to secure funds to decommission its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, as well as funds to provide compensation to people affected by the March 2011 meltdown accident at the plant.
The company has estimated that restarting one of the reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant would help improve its annual earnings by ¥100 billion ($669 million).
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.