Niigata Pref. Panel Finds No Major Issues in Restarting N-Plant; Gov. Seeks Approval of Residents Before Restarting N-Plant

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, February 14, 2025

NIIGATA — A technical committee has concluded that there are no major problems with the safety measures in place at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture.

The committee, which was set up by the prefecture to review the nuclear power plant’s safety, submitted its report to Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi on Wednesday.

The plant is able to begin operations, however, whether or not it will be restarted will depend on the approval of the local community.

[The report] is an important part of the decision-making process, so residents in the prefecture can make the right decision on whether to restart the plant,” said Hanazumi.

There is a possibly that the process of restarting the plant will move forward.

Based on lessons learned from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the committee reviewed 22 items since 2013, including measures against severe accidents such as hydrogen explosions and liquefaction, through interviews with TEPCO and central government officials, as well as on-site inspections.

The report found “no particular problems” with 18 items, including “information dissemination in the event of an accident” and “measures to prevent damage to the reactor container.

The committee members were divided on four items, including “the suitability of TEPCO as the operator” of the nuclear power plant. The report simply stated that the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s decision to give its approval after the safety inspection “should not be denied.”

“It’s important to maintain a high level of safety and security awareness and continue to make efforts to improve them,” said Prof. Toru Obara of the Institute of Science Tokyo, who chairs the committee, when presenting the report to Hanazumi.

The prefecture intends to make the contents of the report public through information meetings with residents and other means.

Hanazumi has said he will decide whether to allow the plant to be restarted after assessing the residents’ responses.

The plant has been shut down since March 2012, and all seven reactors are offline.