Niigata Nuclear Plant’s Anti-Terrorism Facility Delayed; Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Director Cites Newness of Concept

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:10 JST, February 27, 2025

The construction of an anti-terrorism facility for the No. 7 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture will be completed in August 2029, much later than the scheduled completion in March this year, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. announced Thursday.

Takeyuki Inagaki, director of the plant, explained at a press conference, “This is the first construction [of its type] ever, and it took time to review the design and other things.”

TEPCO has been aiming to restart the plant, but the operation may not be resumed until more than four years from now.

New regulatory standards established after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant accident in 2011 require the installation of a special facility for dealing with major accidents to prepare for terrorist attacks, such as a deliberate aircraft crash. The facility must be installed within five years of the approval of the construction plan. The deadline for the installation of such a facility for reactor No. 7 is October this year.