Japan's nuclear regulator approves draft assessment of Oi plant's reactor restart

Japan's nuclear regulator on Wednesday approved a draft assessment by Kansai Electric Power Co. to bring its No. 3 and 4 reactors back online at its Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast.

The unanimous approval by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) means the two reactors have met or soon will meet the government's new safety guidelines implemented in the wake of the the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in March 2011.

Following the final review process, the reactors could be restarted as early as this summer provided that Kansai Electric fulfill final disaster prevention measures.

Such measures include building a wall, by May this year, to protect the coast-facing reactors from tsunamis.

It was an earthquake-triggered tsunami that battered the Daiichi plant in Fukushima in 2011, causing its key cooling functions to fail, resulting in multiple core meltdowns in its reactors that have yet to be fully brought under control.

The NRA said that since July 2013 when Kansai Electric first sought to bring its two reactors at the plant back on line, the utility has increased its expectations for seismic events affecting its reactors in the future.

In response to the NRA's request for improvements in this area, the regulator also said that the utility's plans to introduce special equipment that could help prevent the kind of hydrogen explosions that occurred at the Daiichi facility in Fukushima, were suitable.

The utility has yet to win public approval for the restart however and has already had a lawsuit filed against it over safety concerns.

Its Takahama plant saw two reactors brought back online last year after gaining the NRA's approval to be restarted, only to be swiftly served with a judicial order to take them offline over public safety concerns. Endit