Niigata Prefecture has held the first public hearing, attended by residents, on the advisability of restarting reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.
Sixteen residents of the two municipalities hosting the plant, the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa, attended the session held Sunday. Chosen by open application or through recommendations from relevant organizations, the participants shared their opinions online for some 10 minutes each.
Only the consent of local communities is now required for the reactor restart. The plant's No. 6 and No. 7 reactors have already passed safety screenings by the Nuclear Regulation Authority and are fully loaded with nuclear fuel. An emergency evacuation plan has also been approved.
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