TOKYO (Reuters) -Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki said on Friday the restart of Hokkaido Electric Power Co’s Tomari nuclear power plant in northern Japan is considered a realistic option for now.
Suzuki told the Hokkaido regional assembly he would make a comprehensive decision on the restart after conducting on-site inspections and gathering feedback from surrounding communities.
In July, Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority approved a safety review of Tomari’s 912-megawatt No. 3 reactor, the final regulatory step towards restarting the unit in a process that has lasted 12 years.
Given regulatory approval, the government’s new emergency response plan, and expectations of lower electricity prices after a restart, “utilizing nuclear power is considered a realistic option available for the time being,” Suzuki said.
After visiting the Tomari plant to confirm on-site safety measures and hearing from the mayors of the four local municipalities, “I will make a comprehensive judgment based on the discussions held during this assembly session,” he said.
Hokkaido Electric plans to complete construction of a seawall by March 2027 and aims to restart the reactor as soon as possible thereafter.
The No. 3 reactor has been offline since 2012 amid Japan’s broad push to strengthen nuclear safety following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of the previous year.
Last week, Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi gave the green light for a partial restart of Tokyo Electric Power’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi and Katya Golubkova; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Tom Hogue)
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