Japan nuclear operations: Kansai Electric shuts Mihama No.3 reactor for safety checks

TOKYO, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Kansai Electric Power 9503.T shut its 826-megawatt No. 3 reactor at the Mihama nuclear power station in western Japan on Friday after water droplets were detected in a high-pressure turbine feedwater heater, a company spokesperson said.

The company manually shut down the reactor for safety checks. It had restarted it last Saturday and had been offline since May for maintenance following a technical problem.

Kansai has not set a schedule for restarting the reactor, the spokesperson said.

As of Friday, Japan has 11 nuclear reactors in operation, with a combined capacity of 10,553 MW.

Many utilities are undergoing re-licensing to meet stricter safety standards implemented after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Before the disaster, Japan operated a total of 54 reactors.

The table below shows the status of Japan's nuclear power plants.

The regional utilities are: Chubu Electric Power 9502.T, Chugoku Electric Power 9504.T, Hokkaido Electric Power 9509.T, Hokuriku Electric Power 9505.T, Kansai Electric Power 9503.T, Kyushu Electric Power 9508.T, Shikoku Electric Power 9507.T, Tohoku Electric Power 9506.T and Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) 9501.T.

In the table, the companies are referred to by their regional names.

Japan Atomic Power Company (Japco), a nuclear energy company, owns two reactors.