Case 36: Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Project, Japan

Abstract

Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear station is the largest nuclear power station in the world. The project was started in the year 1980.The nuclear power plant is operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The nuclear power project with seven reactors have generating capacity of 8212 MW and can produce electricity to 16 million households. The plant has the capacity to satisfy about 5% of Japan’s total power demand. The project site of 4.2 km2 is located in the Niigata Prefecture city of Kashiwazaki and the town of Kariwa which was approximately 135 miles north west of Tokyo situated on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Kashiwazaki is the world’s first advanced boiling water reactor. It receives cooling water from the coast of the Sea of Japan. The plant is owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The last two units were the first Advanced Boiling Water Reactors ever built. In 1996, the nuclear plant became the first plant to employ an advanced boiling water reactor for commercial use. The advanced boiling water reactor was designed by General Electric and is a Generation III reactor. It has an average output of 1315 MW and power rating of 1356 MW. Low enriched uranium is used as the nuclear fuel in all the reactors. Kashiwazaki Kariwa possess seven conventional nuclear reactors each with an average output of 1067 MW and power rating of 1100 MW. By 2010, the nuclear power sector had provided more than 11% of Japan’s total energy requirements.