Kansai Electric to halt 1 of Japan's 2 online reactors

Japan's Kansai Electric Power Company will start shutdown of one of the country's two operating reactors for a routine inspection on Monday evening, company officials said. In Japan, reactor No.3 and No.4 at the Ohi nuclear plant of Kansai Electric Power Company are the only two operating units at present. But the operator of the nuclear plant in the central Japanese prefecture of Fukui will gradually lower the output of the No. 3 reactor for its 16th regular examination on Monday evening as scheduled. Yoshihiro Yamamoto, spokesperson for the company, which is supplying electricity to the whole Kansai region including major cities of Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto, told Xinhua that the company's technical teams will complete all shutdown procedures by Tuesday morning. He also said that the company plans to also stop the No.4 reactor for a regular examination on September 15, when all commercial reactors in Japan will be closed for the first time in about 14 months. According to Japan's public broadcaster NHK, the safety of the six nuclear plants, including the Ohi plant, are under scrutiny by the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority for the restart of their reactors following the nuclear disaster at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant which was crippled by a great earthquake triggered tsunami on March 11, 2011.