Shimane 2 is Chugoku Electric's 789 MWe (net) BWR, restarted in December 2024 as Japan's 14th post-Fukushima restart and second BWR after nearly 13 years offline. It is operable; a periodic inspection that began in February 2026 was scheduled to finish in September 2026.
Background: Palisades fuel loading: Holtec restart timeline and what comes next · NRC reactor licensing process, explained
Current state
| Status | Restarted |
| Country | Japan |
| Location | Matsue, Shimane Prefecture |
| Plant | Shimane |
| Unit | 2 |
| Operator | Chugoku Electric Power |
| Reactor type | BWR |
| Net capacity (MWe) | 789 |
| Restart type | Post-Fukushima restart |
| Shut down | 2012-01-27 |
| Restarted | 2024-12-07 |
| Years offline | 12.9 |
| Regulator | NRA conformity approval 2021-09-15 |
| Local consent | Shimane governor approved restart June 2022 after Matsue, Izumo, Yasugi and Unnan |
Notes
JAIF (Aug 2026) scheduled power resumption on 2026-08-06 and commercial operation on 2026-09-17; not confirmed here.
Timeline
- 2012-01-27 — Shimane 2 entered an outage. (source)
- 2013-12-25 — Chugoku applied for the NRA conformity review. (source)
- 2021-09-15 — The NRA officially approved the unit. (source)
- 2022-06 — The Shimane governor approved the restart, completing local consent. (source)
- 2024-12-07 — Chugoku restarted Shimane 2. (source)
- 2025-01-10 — The unit resumed commercial operation. (source)
- 2026-02-09 — Shimane 2 was shut down for a periodic inspection. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related units
- Genkai Unit 3 Restarted · Japan
- Genkai Unit 4 Restarted · Japan
- Hamaoka Unit 3 Cancelled · Japan
- Hamaoka Unit 4 Cancelled · Japan
- Higashidori Unit 1 (Tohoku Electric) Under review · Japan
- Ikata Unit 3 Restarted · Japan
- Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 Restarted · Japan
- Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 7 Approved · Japan
See all 45 units in the Nuclear Plant Restarts Tracker →
Sources
- Current Status of Nuclear Power Plants in Japan as of August 7, 2026 — Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Current Status of Nuclear Power Plants in Japan as of March 14, 2019 — Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Nuclear Power in Japan — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11
- Shimane 2 restarts after 13 years being offline — World Nuclear News, checked 2026-10-11