Kansai Electric Power Co. formally notified the Fukui Prefectural Government on Friday that it will decommission the Oi No. 1 and No. 2 reactors.

The utility's choice to scrap the atomic power plants, which will turn 40 years old in 2019, rather than apply for a two-decade extension, means Kepco units account for four of the 14 reactors nationwide that have been scheduled for destruction since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Kepco's Mihama No. 1 and No. 2 reactors are also scheduled for decommissioning.

They would also become the second and third reactors with over a gigawatt of output to be decommissioned in Japan after the 1,100-megawatt No. 6 unit at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant.