Japan’s Tepco delays Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear restart after alarm glitch

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) will delay the restart of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday, after an alarm malfunction.It would have been the first reactor restart for Tepco since its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a powerful tsunami in 2011.The company had planned to restart Unit No 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on Tuesday and Unit No 7 around 2030, as Japan seeks greater energy security and lower fossil fuel import costs.NHK, ‍citing sources, said the delay was due to an alarm malfunction that occurred during equipment testing over the weekend and the new restart date should be within a few days.Tepco said the company was examining the impact of the malfunction. It plans to hold a press conference later on Monday.Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 gigawatts. Tepco has planned to ‌resume commercial operations of reactor No 6, which has 1.36 GW capacity, on February 26.