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Jul 30, 2025 13:39 (JST)
Tokyo, July 30 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday approved a safety screening report that the No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant in the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido meets the country’s safety standards.
The reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s plant is the first in Japan that has won such approval since the No. 2 reactor at the Shimane power plant of Chugoku Electric Power Co., which passed a safety screening in 2021, and the 18th reactor since the current safety standards were adopted.
The Tomari No. 3 reactor, the newest in Japan, started operation in 2009. The authority screened the reactor for an unusually long period of 12 years as it took time for Hokkaido Electric to explain its measures to deal with possible earthquakes and tsunamis.
The company, however, is still in litigation with local residents as it has appealed a court order not to operate the plant issued in 2022. It is uncertain whether the company can restart the reactor in 2027 as planned, given that it needs to obtain agreements from local governments.
Hokkaido Electric applied for the safety screening on the day the current safety standards took effect in July 2013.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Jiji Press
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