By NAOMI NISHIMURA/ Staff Writer
December 22, 2025 at 18:02 JST
The Niigata prefectural assembly on Dec. 22 passes a resolution regarding resumption of operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. (Akihito Ogawa)
NIIGATA—Tokyo Electric Power Co. has the green light to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant for the first time since its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant suffered a triple meltdown over a decade ago.
The Niigata prefectural assembly on Dec. 22 passed a resolution expressing confidence in Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi’s ability to remain in office following his decision to allow operations to resume at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the prefecture.
This latest move completes the process to obtain local consent for restarting the plant.
Hanazumi is expected to meet on Dec. 23 with Ryosei Akazawa, the economy minister, and inform him that the prefecture is not opposed to the resumption of operations.
Once that is done, TEPCO plans to submit an application as early as Dec. 24 to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for restarting operations of the No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
The utility is proceeding with plans to resume operations on or around Jan. 20 at a plant that has been offline since March 2012, a year after the Fukushima triple meltdown.
Hanazumi expressed his consent for operation resumption on Nov. 21, but added that the final decision was waiting on a vote of confidence by the prefectural assembly.
The resolution passed the assembly with the support of the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and one other voting bloc. The opposition parties voted against the resolution, demanding that a gubernatorial election or prefectural referendum be held to determine public opinion.
The resolution was appended to a supplementary budget submitted by the Niigata prefectural government that included expenditures for public relations concerning the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.
The municipal governments of Kashiwazaki and Kariwa had given their consent, and the prefectural assembly was the last hurdle for TEPCO before resuming operations.
Most of the electricity generated at the plant is transmitted to the greater Tokyo metropolitan area. However, electric bills should not be affected by the restart as TEPCO has already calculated accordingly.
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