Japanese Utility to Shut Nuclear Reactor to Fix Pipeline

(Bloomberg) — Japan’s Kansai Electric Power Co. will shut a nuclear reactor after finding a “tiny” hole in a pipeline, threatening to increase fossil fuel requirements to fill any electricity shortfall.

The No. 3 reactor at the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture will be closed for inspection, according to a filing from the utility on Thursday, which didn’t provide a timeline for shutter or restart. The hole was discovered in a pipe used to release water to the sea from the cooling system.

The utility said there has been no radioactive impact on the environment.

Kansai Electric has canceled a tender to sell a cargo of liquefied natural gas for December delivery following the incident, according to traders with knowledge of the matter. The tender was slated to close on Thursday.

The move may increase demand for electricity from natural gas- or coal-fired facilities, incrementally tightening global fuel supplies ahead of peak demand in winter. Each month a reactor is offline, Japan requires a little more than one additional LNG shipment.

(Updates with additional comment from the utility in the third paragraph)

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