Five power companies, including Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc., and the government plan to set up a council for jointly building and operating TEPCO's Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
Construction of the plant has been suspended since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 2011.
The plan is meant to divide the burden of ballooning safety costs for nuclear power plants, the result of stricter safety standards, and to share skills and knowledge to construct and operate a nuclear power plant, according to sources.
If the plan is realized, it will be the first joint construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.
Besides TEPCO, the council will be joined by Tohoku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co., an electricity wholesale company specializing in nuclear power, the sources said. It will be established by the end of this month at the earliest.
TEPCO hopes to establish a consortium with the power companies as early as fiscal 2020, with the council to discuss how to divide necessary costs and other issues.
Two reactors are planned to be built at the Higashidori nuclear power plant. The construction of the first reactor began in January 2011, but construction work was suspended after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, and the site of the plant remains vacant.
The reactor is an improved version of the boiling water reactor, or BWR, which is the same as those used at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant. The two reactors are a large type with a combined output of 2.77 million kilowatts.
To resume the reactors' construction, it is necessary to obtain the understanding of relevant municipalities. However, stricter safety standards were introduced after the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, and it has become difficult for TEPCO to pay the ballooning costs, such as construction costs for seawalls to prevent tsunami damage, by itself.
The government, which effectively put TEPCO under its control, is hoping to achieve joint operations of a nuclear power plant and use the experience to facilitate the realignment and consolidation of the companies' nuclear power businesses.
Other power companies besides TEPCO are also facing difficulties in resuming operations of their nuclear power plants and building new ones. Maintaining know-how regarding the construction and operation of a nuclear power plant, as well as maintaining skilled workers, are important issues for them. They are therefore positive about the joint construction and operation of a nuclear power plant.
On land adjacent to the Higashidori nuclear power plant, Tohoku Electric Power has its own nuclear power plant with the same name. However, its operation has been suspended due to prolonged safety screening by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The company believes that it will be able to reduce costs by jointly procuring necessary fuels and materials with TEPCO after its nuclear power plant resumes operations.
For Chubu Electric Power, there is no prospect of resuming its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, and the company intends to maintain personnel and skills in the nuclear power business.
KEPCO is currently considering rebuilding its aging Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, so it aims to obtain necessary knowledge on construction.
However, since TEPCO bears huge costs related to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant, other power companies are concerned about the possibility that they will also be held responsible for clean-up tasks.
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