Photo/Illutration The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Takeshi Iwashita)

The Nuclear Regulation Authority has decided to lift the de facto operational ban on Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.

The NRA has judged that the plant was in a state where “autonomous improvement can be expected.”

However, doubts remain about TEPCO's safety culture and the authority clarified that lifting the ban is just a starting point. The decision should not be deemed as a reason to rush the plant’s restart.

The nuclear watchdog on Dec. 27 decided to lift an order prohibiting the transfer of nuclear fuel within the plant, imposed due to inadequacies in anti-terrorism measures exposed by a spate of security breaches, stating there's no reason to deem TEPCO unfit to operate a nuclear plant.

However, given the fact that TEPCO was recently embroiled in a series of scandals, there are questions about whether a safety-oriented mindset has become deeply ingrained in the company.

Moreover, lifting the ban only means the NRA has acknowledged minimum levels of compliance and does not imply that restarting the plant is risk-free.

Shinsuke Yamanaka, head of the regulation authority, reiterated that the decision does not give TEPCO a clean bill of health, a strong caveat highlighting the need for continued and rigorous monitoring and assessment of whether the plant is making steady progress toward higher safety.

The focus now shifts to local consent for the procedures for bringing the plant back online. The local administrations involved have limited means to verify the safety of the nuclear plant, and the local economies depend in some ways on the economic benefits of hosting nuclear plants.

To make a decision based on a safety-first approach and win the consent of the local communities involved, TEPCO needs to engage in careful consideration and serious discussions with the local residents.

Meanwhile, the administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has switched to a policy of maximizing the use of existing nuclear plants.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi has already spoken about the administration’s intention to “explain meticulously the necessity and significance of restarting the reactors (at the plant).”

Given its history of ardently pursuing a national policy of promoting nuclear power generation that led to one of the world's worst nuclear accidents in history, the government has every reason to bear responsibility for any decision to restart nuclear plants.

However, the government made the recent policy change in a rash manner, without offering convincing plans to solve existing challenges or engaging in meaningful and meticulous national debate on the issue.

Putting political pressure on the local communities for consent in a “leaning forward,” or overzealous attitude is unacceptable. It is out of the question for the government to set a time frame for restarting the plant to improve the utility’s earnings performance.

The government must sincerely address concerns and anxiety among the local residents. Last year saw a 38-hour traffic standstill due to extremely heavy snow on a national highway designated for evacuation in a nuclear emergency.

The Kishida administration needs to explain how it can deal with compound disasters, including a severe nuclear accident, and risks such as missile attacks on the plant.

The electricity generated at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is not consumed locally but mostly sent to the Tokyo metropolitan area, as was the case of power produced at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The government should not repeat the unfair and unreasonable action of imposing the burden of accepting nuclear risks solely on local communities while compelling them to make the decisions under the pressure of national policy.

It should acknowledge anew that this issue calls for a collective judgment by the entire nation.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Dec. 28