The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency decided Monday to sign off on the stress test results for an idled reactor at the Ikata power plant in Ehime Prefecture, which will pave the way for a third unit to gain clearance for resuming operations.
In a revised draft report, NISA said the results confirm that Shikoku Electric Power Co. has taken sufficient measures to prevent the reactor from falling prey to a station blackout like the one that crippled the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in Fukushima Prefecture and tainted wide swaths of the northeast with radioactive fallout following an earthquake and tsunami.
Once NISA finalizes the report, the Nuclear Safety Commission, the five-member state body tasked with supervising nuclear safety regulations, will double check its evaluation of the results on the Ikata plant's No. 3 reactor.