TOKYO, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A reactor at the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, has resumed operations that had been suspended since October due to damage to a pipe, its operator said Thursday.
The No. 3 reactor was restarted at 1 a.m. local time Thursday and reached criticality, or a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction, three hours later, according to Kansai Electric Power Co., the plant's operator.
Kansai Electric said the reactor is expected to start power generation at night on the same day.
A routine inspection of the reactor last fiscal year found that the polyethylene coating protecting the inside of a pipe used in a cooling system of the reactor vessel had peeled off. After the problem was fixed with epoxy resin susceptible to erosion, a reduction in the wall thickness and holes were found, forcing Kansai Electric to suspend the reactor on Oct. 15.
The damaged pipe was replaced with a pipe protected with polyethylene lining. ■