
Tohoku Electric Power will restart Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant’s 825MW Unit 2 later today. When it does so, it will become the first operating nuclear reactor in the Tohoku area struck by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake since the disaster.
Originally, Tohoku EPCO was planning to restart the reactor in September 2024, however, due to delays related to safety measures, the plan was postponed. The utility loaded fuel into the reactor in early September 2024. It plans to restart generation on November 7, 2024, and return the unit to commercial operation from December 25, 2024.
Unit 2 is a boiling water reactor commissioned in 1995. It was shut down for maintenance in 2010 and has not returned into service since then. One more reactor at Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, the 825MW Unit 3, is operable as well. However, Tohoku EPCO is yet to apply for review of the unit under new safety measures introduced after the disaster. The power plant’s 500MW Unit 1 was decommissioned in 2018.
Separate from the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, Tohoku EPCO also has an operable 1,100MW reactor at the Higashidori Nuclear Power Plant. The unit is currently being reviewed under the new safety measures.