General News

Kansai Electric to Complete Survey for New N-Reactor in 2030

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Mihama nuclear plant

Jiji Press

12:21 JST, September 18, 2025

FUKUI (Jiji Press) — Kansai Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it will complete a geological survey to build a safer next-generation nuclear reactor in Fukui Prefecture around 2030.

In the initial process, scheduled to start in November, boring tests will be conducted in two areas near the No. 3 reactor at the company’s Mihama nuclear plant to look into ground hardness and whether there are active faults.

A final decision on whether to build the new reactor will be made after a detailed survey to examine the impact of earthquakes that is expected to start in April 2027 for completion between 2029 and 2030.

The Mihama town government last month approved the company’s plan to conduct the survey.

Kansai Electric’s plan to build the new reactor comes as electricity demand is expected to rise due to an increase in data centers for artificial intelligence.

The company has restarted seven nuclear reactors in stages that were temporarily suspended after the March 2011 triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in northeastern Japan. Three of them mark the 50th anniversary of operations next year.