By Kantaro Komiya and Katya Golubkova
TOKYO (Reuters) -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 Co’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.
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 8,212 MW.
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 startup were operating properly.
The company has also pledged 100 billion yen ($644 million) to support local communities to gain support for the restart, which TEPCO has sought for many years despite some local opposition.
If approved, the restart would be in line with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s plans to support more nuclear restarts to strengthen energy security.
Partial restoration of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant would also help to cut liquefied natural gas import costs for Japan, the world’s second-biggest LNG buyer after China, as Takaichi’s government is prioritising bringing down the cost of living.
As of the end of October, Japan has restarted 11 reactors with a total capacity of 10,647 MW. Prior to the Fukushima disaster, Japan’s utilities operated 54 reactors in total. TEPCO continues to pay out large amounts of compensation following the reactor meltdown in 2011.
($1 = 155.2700 yen)
(Reporting by Kantaro Komiya and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Christian Schmollinger)
