» Niigata Governor is still opposing to restarting of nuclear reactors

2015/01/06

Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida remained adamantly opposed to restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant and chided the president of TECOP’s response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co., was seeking Izumida’s approval to bring two idle reactors at the plant back online, but he instead received criticism from the governor.

“(TEPCO) is taking a passive stance toward investigating the causes of the accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant,” Izumida told Hirose.

TEPCO in autumn 2013 applied to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for safety screenings of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the plant in Niigata Prefecture. The company not only has to win approval from the NRA, but it also needs the green light from host communities–and the prefectural governor–to resume operations.

During their talks, Hirose asked Izumida to inspect the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

Izumida has repeatedly said he will not approve the reactor restarts unless TEPCO thoroughly examines the Fukushima nuclear accident, which unfolded after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, and presents the results of its investigation.

<Media Report>
Niigata governor scolds TEPCO president, rejects reactor restarts (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:news, restart of nuclear reactors, TEPCO

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