Sept. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Kansai Electric Power Co., Japan's second-biggest utility, said it may fail to meet its deadline for completing inspections on eight nuclear reactors by the end of September, forcing it to buy power and more fuel.

The No. 2 reactor at Kansai Electric's Mihama nuclear power station, the plant involved in last month's fatal accident, needs replacement piping and will take longer to restart, company spokesman Tomohide Saito said in a telephone interview. The company still has two groups of two reactors to shut down and check, he said.

Osaka-based Kansai Electric is relying more on plants that use fossil fuels at a time when crude-oil and coal prices are at record highs. Last year, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's biggest utility, had a fiscal first-quarter loss because fuel costs surged when it was forced to close all its reactors because of safety concerns. Kansai Electric has just four of 11 reactors online.

Chubu Electric Power Co., Japan's third-largest power company, has agreed to sell 500 megawatts of power to Kansai Electric from Aug. 30 to Sept. 10, Saito said. Kansai Electric bought 500 megawatts of power from neighboring power producers Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Shikoku Electric Power Co. and Chubu on Aug. 19.

Kansai Electric is bringing forward deliveries of contracted C-grade fuel oil from refiners and traders, Saito said. He wouldn't provide more detail on the utility's fuel purchases.

The power producer, which supplies electricity to the cities of Osaka and Kobe, is still waiting for government approval to restart its Takahama No. 2 and Ohi No. 4 reactors, Saito said. Kansai Electric's Takahama No. 3 reactor has also been shut since the accident as it has piping that hasn't yet been checked.

Reactor Checks

Kansai Electric is conducting checks on its nuclear plants after a ruptured pipe at its Mihama No. 3 reactor leaked steam on Aug. 9, killing four workers and injuring seven others. The 28- year-old carbon-steel steam piping system at the plant, made from 10 millimeter (0.39 inch) thick steel and rated for a working life of 30 years, had worn down to 1.4 millimeters.

Kansai Electric failed to carry out checks at 11 designated points in the piping systems of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Takahama plant and the No. 3 reactor at its Ohi facility. The other two reactors involved were already closed before the accident at Mihama.

The utility produces about 56 percent of its electricity from its 11 nuclear power plants in Fukui prefecture, according to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. Thermal power stations that use oil, liquefied natural gas or coal account for 30 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Hector Forster in Tokyo at hforster@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 2, 2004 23:00 EDT