Chugoku Electric Power Co. showed reporters Tuesday the reactor pressure vessel that will contain the nuclear fuel for a power plant in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.
The 21-meter-high, 910-ton device was taken from its plant in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture, and put on a cargo ship as reporters and photographers watched.
The pressure vessel will be transported 480 km to the nuclear plant in Shimane, which is scheduled to be activated in December 2011.
The vessel was assembled by Babcock-Hitachi K.K. at the firm's No. 2 plant in Kure, using facilities that were used to build gun turrets for the battleship Yamato during World War II.
The main body of the pressure vessel was built by Japan Steel Works Ltd. at a plant in Muroran, Hokkaido.
