Japan prepares to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant after years of caution

The Japanese governor overseeing the region that is home to the world’s largest nuclear power plant is set to give the approval this week for its restart, the Kyodo news agency reported on Wednesday.

The approval will clear one of the remaining milestones in Tokyo Electric Power Company’s quest to bring the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant back online, more than a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster led to its shutdown.

Niigata prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanazumi is set to announce his approval to partially resume Kashiwazaki-Kariwa as early as Friday, Kyodo said, citing multiple unnamed sources in the prefecture government.

Hanazumi will consult the prefectural assembly on his decision during its regular session beginning on December 2. If the assembly endorses his decision, he is expected to respond to the national government’s request to approve the restart, the Nikkei business daily said.

Tepco is planning to bring online the two biggest units of the plant, No 6 and No 7, which can together produce 2,710 megawatts of electricity and possibly decommission some of the remaining five units. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8,212MW.

In October, Tepco finished checks at reactor No 6 after fuel loading, saying at the time it had confirmed that the main systems required for reactor start-up were operating properly.