Japan's Nuclear Regulation Commission announced on the 27th that it had lifted the ban on the operation of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant under Tokyo Electric Power Company. However, for Japan's largest nuclear power plant to "restart", it still needs to be agreed by Niigata Prefecture** and the local people.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Commission (NRA) announced that it lifted the ban after inspecting seven coastal nuclear reactors and hearing a report from TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa on corrective measures for security and counter-terrorism. Shinsuke Yamanaka, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Commission, said he hoped that TEPCO would continue to make improvements in accordance with the committee's requirements by starting with the approval to resume operations.
With a capacity of approximately 8,212 megawatts, the Kashiwazaki Kariba Nuclear Power Plant is one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world. After the big fire on March 11, 2011, TEPCO scrapped two nuclear power plants in Fukushima, and the Kashiwazaki Kariba nuclear power plant was shut down in March 2012. In accordance with the new regulations issued by Japan** after the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Nuclear Regulation Commission has re-examined the nuclear power plant since 2013 and found it qualified in 2017. However, in April 2021, the Commission issued an operational ban on the nuclear power plant due to a series of safety and anti-terrorism problems and vulnerabilities in preparation for its restart.
According to a number of ** reports, seeking to restart the Kashiwazaki Kariba nuclear power plant is one of TEPCO's business priorities. The company said on the 27th that it will continue to work hard to seek to regain the trust of the local community and people. However, many people strongly oppose the reopening of the Kashiwazaki Kariba nuclear power plant. Niigata Prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanakoku said that the local government will listen to the opinions of the people before deciding whether to agree to the restart of the nuclear power plant. (END) (Zheng Haoning).