THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
December 28, 2023 at 19:02 JST
Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Despite the lifting of a ban on Dec. 27 against Tokyo Electric Power Co. for operating its nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, bringing the reactors back online isn’t as simple as flicking a switch.
The utility still has many obstacles ahead before it can restart the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority will continue monitoring TEPCO from early next year to ensure it is implementing what the NRA considers important priorities.
These safety precautions include measures to prevent unauthorized entry into the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant and the functioning of a new monitoring body under TEPCO made necessary because of sloppy handling of anti-terrorism procedures.
TEPCO was always under a harsher focus than other utilities because of the triple meltdown at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 2011.
But the utility still managed to stumble through other problems at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa such as lights designed to prevent unauthorized entry not working properly and allowing an employee who tested positive for illicit drugs into the restricted zone at the plant.
“We have been betrayed by TEPCO so many times,” said one veteran Niigata prefectural assembly member from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
There is no indication when an evacuation plan for local communities around the plant will be compiled, even though that is a requirement to resume operations.
Local governments also have to give their consent to the resumption of operations.
Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi has not stated a clear position, only saying that he will seek a public mandate before deciding.
He has not stated how he would gauge that mandate, whether through a prefectural referendum or by stating his position and then resigning as governor but running in the subsequent gubernatorial election to see if the Niigata public supported his position.
(This article was written by Keitaro Fukuchi, Aki Fukuyama and Mitsumasa Inoue.)
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