According to the Japan Broadcasting Association (NHK), Japan’s Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission decided to lift the ban on the operation of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant. This clears the way for Japan's Tepco to restart one of the world's largest nuclear power plants. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is located about 250 kilometers north of Tokyo. It has seven reactors and has been in operation since 1985. According to public information, the total installed capacity of Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is 8.2 million kilowatts, making it one of the largest nuclear power plants in the world.
After the Fukushima nuclear power plant leak in 2011, the nuclear power plant was shut down. In 2017, Japanese regulators said the plant's reactors 6 and 7 complied with post-Fukushima safety protocols, paving the way for its restart.
However, since January 2021, the Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant has successively exposed problems such as the illegal use of access cards and the failure of intrusion detection equipment, showing that the nuclear power plant has many loopholes in anti-terrorism and security measures. In April of the same year, Japan's Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission issued an operation ban on the nuclear power plant. Since then, the nuclear power plant has been out of operation for 2 years and 8 months.
Earlier this month, Japan's nuclear watchdog claimed that safety issues surrounding the plant had now been corrected. However, TEPCO must clear other hurdles before it can resume operations, such as obtaining approval from local governments.
With little domestic resources, Japan has been turning to atomic energy to bolster its energy supply and reduce its reliance on imported fossil fuels. However, power producers like TEPCO need to go through strict protocols set by regulators to restart reactors that have been out of service since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster.
TEPCO President Tomaki Kobayakawa said: "It is not easy for TEPCO to regain the trust of society due to the Fukushima nuclear accident. We will continue to improve the relevant situation."
Shinsuke Yamanaka, chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Regulatory Commission, responded, "I hope Tepco will not forget to put its responsibility for Fukushima first."
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