A crane works on the building covering No. 1 reactor (L) at the TEPCO's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, November 12, 2014. REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool
A crane works on the building covering No. 1 reactor (L) at the TEPCO's tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, November 12, 2014. REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool REUTERS/Shizuo Kambayashi/Pool

Japan's nuclear regulator has approved on Wednesday the restart of Nos 3 and 4 reactors of the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture after passing rigid tests under new safety standards relative to its reactivation. The plant is operated by Kansai Electric Power Co.

In a 433-page draft report, commissioners of the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Kansai Electric's Takahama station units No3 and No 4 met the new regulatory requirements, announced in July 2013. "In terms of the technical aspects, we approve the compatibility" of the reactors with new safety rules, the regulator said.

"I am not saying that (the plant) is safe, or that safety was confirmed or that we determined that it is not safe. Rather, we completed an evaluation into whether it meets the necessary requirements to operate," Shuichi Tanaka, NRA chairman, said. The approval effectively starts the process of public hearings. The results of the consultation period will be incorporated in NRA's final decision. Local authorities likewise need to give their stamp of approval before Kansai can ever restart the reactors. Only then can the actual restart happen. Takahama units 3 and 4 are both 870 MWe pressurised water reactors, according to World Nuclear News.

After the new regulatory requirements were announced in July 2013, Kansai immediately applied for NRA inspections along with three other Japanese utilities. Japan's entire 48 nuclear reactors are all idle following the catastrophic March 2011 Fukushima accident. Although the country wants to work on restarting them all again, the process had been excruciatingly slow. Kansai's approval was, in fact, only the second that was granted since the nuclear meltdowns occurred four years ago.

In July, Kyushu Electric Power Co won the approval to restart the No 1 and No 2 reactors of its Sendai nuclear station. But the operator has yet to officially make the restart formal as it continues to run more safety checks and tests. Observers also believed the reactors of the Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture could likewise go the same path, taking months before it actually reopens again.