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UPDATE 1-Lightning shuts 2 reactors at Kansai nuclear plant

Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:05pm EST

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TOKYO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Kansai Electric Power Co (9503.T) said on Thursday that two reactors at its Mihama nuclear power plant shut down automatically earlier in the day after lightning hit the facility.

The 340-megawatt No.1 unit and 500-megawatt No.2 unit were shut, the utility said in a statement.

A company spokesman said Kansai Electric expected the reactors to be back online within a few days, though it hasn't set a restart date yet.

The utility has increased utilisation rates at its other hydropower, nuclear and thermal power plants and is considering purchasing electricity from other utilities to make up for the lost output from the two reactors, the spokesman added.

The 826-megawatt No.3 reactor at the Mihama plant in western Japan did not automatically shut down after the lightning strike, but electricity transmission was interrupted for almost 30 minutes. (Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Hugh Lawson)



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