Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday that it will ask the Nuclear Regulation Authority to examine the Nos. 6 and 7 reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture for a possible restarting under the NRA's new safety regulations that will take effect Monday.
Tepco's reactor restart plan is deplorable because it comes at a time when it is making scant progress in its efforts to safely shutter its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, clean up contaminated areas, compensate victims and determine the causes of the crisis.
Given that Tepco's gross mismanagement of the Fukushima crisis, people are questioning whether Tepco is qualified to operate a nuclear power plant. In the past months, Fukushima No. 1 has suffered a series of contaminated water leaks, and 150,000 people from Fukushima Prefecture are still forced to live away from their homes because their communities remain contaminated.