Over 40 years of operation Restart of Takahama Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 and 2 Town agrees

On the 1st, the local Takahama Town, Fukui Prefecture, announced that it would agree to restart the Takahama Nuclear Power Station Units 1 and 2 of Kansai Electric Power Co., Inc., which has been in operation for more than 40 years.

This is the first time that a local government has agreed to restart a nuclear power plant for more than 40 years as a new regulatory standard, and Fukui Prefecture's judgment will be the focus in the future.

The operating period of nuclear power plants in Japan is a new regulatory standard established after the Fukushima nuclear accident and is limited to 40 years in principle, but if it passes the examination of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it can be extended up to 60 years, and this examination The focus is on whether or not the local government agrees on the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant Units 1 and 2 in Fukui Prefecture.

On the 1st, the mayor of Takahama Town, Yutaka Nose, told the town council that he would agree to restart the operation.

Among them, Mayor Nose said in a remote interview with Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Kajiyama last week that he was able to confirm the attitude of the government to take responsibility for safety measures, etc., and said, "The safety and importance of nuclear power, necessity. I will comprehensively judge the sex and understand the restart. "

So far, there are four nuclear power plants nationwide that have been approved for extension of operation period, but this is the first time that the local government has agreed to restart.

The town is near, and I will give my consent to Fukui Prefecture.

Kansai Electric Power plans to restart Unit 1 around March and Unit 2 around May, but Fukui Prefecture is premised on the decision of consent, and will be the destination for the spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear power plant. We are requesting that the candidate sites for "interim storage facilities" be shown outside the prefecture.

On the other hand, Kansai Electric Power has not indicated a specific candidate site so far, and in the future, Kansai Electric Power's response and Fukui Prefecture's judgment will be the focus regarding restarting.