Japan could restart two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Japan, the world’s largest, as soon as January, if a regional assembly endorses next week the governor’s decision to allow the start-up, Jiji press agency reported on Thursday.
Last week, Hideyo Hanazumi, governor of the Niigata Prefecture where the nuclear power plant is located, gave his approval for the plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), to restart units 6 and 7 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa.
Before the Fukushima meltdown in 2011, nuclear energy accounted for about 30% of Japan’s electricity mix. The disaster prompted the closure of all reactors for safety checks. Since 2015, Japan has restarted 14 reactors out of 33, while 11 others are currently in the process of restart approval.
The assembly of the Niigata Prefecture is expected to vote on the governor’s decision in a regular session that begins on Tuesday, December 2.
If the assembly approves the restart, too, the two units at the nuclear power plant could resume operations in January, the Jiji agency quoted the plant’s director as saying.
TEPCO, which also operated the nuclear power plant in Fukushima prior to the 2011 disaster, has planned for years to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the Niigata prefecture.
Last month, TEPCO said that it carried out a full round of integrity checks at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa after fuel loading of Unit 6 was completed, confirming that primary facilities can sufficiently perform the functions required for reactor startup.
But the company faces backlash over its restart plans and proposal to “contribute monetarily to vitalizing the regional economy.” Local residents and anti-nuclear activists in Japan oppose the restart and have slammed TEPCO’s proposal as a “bribery” of the local residents to accept the restart of the plant.
Opinion polls suggest that local residents are split on whether TEPCO should be allowed to restart the nuclear power plant.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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