Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Company lifted 2.8 per cent on Thursday after reports Japanese regulators may be edging closer to permitting the restart of a major nuclear power plant. The seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility were among the 50 shut down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. In September 2013, Tepco applied to restart two of the plant’s reactors but the company has yet to clear the necessary regulatory hurdles. Tepco in June submitted a fresh application to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart two reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, which is located in Niigata on Japan’s biggest island and is the world’s largest nuclear generating site. While officials on Wednesday signalled they may approve the application, the market reaction appears somewhat premature as Niigata Governor Ryuichi Yoneyama remains firmly in opposition to a restart.
FT 7th Sept 2017 read more »
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), which must approve any restarts, had been holding to a very strict line on TEPCO applications. However, on Sept. 6 the NRA abruptly changed track, taking a more sympathetic attitude and indicating that the No. 6 and 7 reactors at the utility’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture would likely pass their safety inspections — a prerequisite for restart approval.
Mainichi 7th Sept 2017 read more »
