Kyushu Electric Power Co today began loading mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel at unit 3 of its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga prefecture, Japan, in preparation for the first ever use of the fuel in the country. It is expected to take about five days to load the fuel. The operation had been slated to start on 3 October, but was delayed after an objection from the local parliament. Kyushu plans to restart the unit in early November and to gradually increase output from early December. The company is replacing about one-third of the 193 fuel assemblies in Genkai 3 during the current scheduled refuelling outage, 16 of which will comprise MOX fuel. Preparations are also under way by Shikoku Electric Power Co and Chubu Electric Power Co to introduce MOX fuel into their reactors in or after 2010. In June, Japan's Federation of Electric Power Companies (Fepco) decided to revise its goal of having 16-18 reactors using MOX fuel by fiscal 2015, instead of 2010.