According to Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the capacity factor of all the nuclear power stations in Japan fell to as low as 6.1 per cent in February this year. The average capacity factor of Japan’s nuclear power stations in the past was approximately 80 per cent, although it varied annually. The capacity factor has continued to decrease since the earthquake last March, finally down to below 10 per cent.
Compared with the previous month, the value decreased by 4.2 per cent. This reduction was due to periodic inspections started at the end of January for Tokyo Electric Power’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit 5 and Chugoku Electric Power’s Shimane unit 2 and at February 20 for Kansai Electric Power’s Takahama unit 3.
As of March 2, only two out of all the 54 nuclear reactors remain in operation: Hokkaido Electric Power’s Tomari unit 3 and Tokyo Electric Power’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit 6. Their scheduled dates for the start of next periodic inspections are March 23 for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit 6 and late April or early May for Tomari unit 3. If the other power stations do not resume operation by that time, all the nuclear reactors in Japan will be shut down.
