Japan is going through its first winter without nuclear power since the March 2011 meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant. All of the nation's 50 nuclear power reactors have remained offline since the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture were shut down for maintenance last September.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority, which examines idled nuclear power plants that utility firms want to restart, must proceed strictly on scientific grounds — focusing on whether their restart plans comply with the new safety regulations, introduced in 2013, that incorporated lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The NRA must not be swayed by political considerations.
As soon as the new safety regulations took effect last July, power companies rushed to apply for the NRA's assessment of their plans to restart the reactors. Six months on, the NRA has under consideration seven utilities' plans to restart a total of 16 reactors at nine plants across the country.