Japan’s Fukuoka High Court on 27 June upheld a March 2015 ruling by the Saga District Court that mixed-oxide (mox) fuel can be used at unit 3 of Kyushu Electric Power Company's Genkai NPP in Japan's Saga prefecture. A group of southwestern Japan residents, which had sought an injunction on the use of mox fuel in the reactor, had appealed against the original court's decision that the use of the fuel did not increase the risk of a serious accident. Kyushu is seeking permission from the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart Genkai 3, which has been offline since 2010.
Japan’s Fukuoka High Court on 27 June upheld a March 2015 ruling by the Saga District Court that mixed-oxide (mox) fuel can be used at unit 3 of Kyushu Electric Power Company’s Genkai NPP in Japan’s Saga prefecture. A group of southwestern Japan residents, which had sought an injunction on the use of mox fuel in the reactor, had appealed against the original court’s decision that the use of the fuel did not increase the risk of a serious accident. Kyushu is seeking permission from the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart Genkai 3, which has been offline since 2010.
Meanwhile, Shikoku Electric Power Company the same day completed loading fuel into unit 3 of the Ikata NPP in Ehime prefecture ahead of its restart. The company began the loading of 56 fresh fuel assemblies and 101 already used assemblies (including 16 mixed-oxide assemblies) into the reactor’s core on 24 June. The unit is expected to be restarted in late July.