With the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Takahama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture having passed safety inspections, efforts to bring them back online are now shifting toward obtaining consent from local residents — an effort that could become complicated as neighboring Kyoto and Shiga prefectures demand involvement.

Before proceeding to obtain consent, Fukui prefectural officials will first finalize matters such as approving construction plans, and confirming the intent of the local government in the town of Takahama, where the plant is located.

Accident-related contingency plans must be formulated for locales within a 30-kilometer radius of nuclear power plants, and because this encompasses parts of both Kyoto and Shiga prefectures in the case of the Takahama plant, it may run into some roadblocks.

Bid to restart Fukui nuke reactors faces challenges from neighboring prefectures