On November 27, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) approved Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s (EPC) application to restart Unit 2 of the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. The 796 MWe BWR was sidelined after sustaining damage due to flooding following the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent tsunami in March 2011. NRA’s board voted unanimously to approve Tohoku EPC’s bid to restart the reactor, but the utility must still complete a raft of safety upgrades before restarting the plant. The company said it expects to spend up to $3.1 billion on safety upgrades to restart Onagawa 2, with the bulk of this spending dedicated to raising and reinforcing the plant’s seawall to a height of 29 meters to protect against a tsunami as high as 23.1 meters.
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