Kyodo
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is making final arrangements to send industry minister Yukio Edano to Fukui Prefecture on Friday to ask for cooperation in restarting two idled reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant, sources said.
Noda and three ministers, including Edano, confirmed Monday that reactors 3 and 4 at the Kansai Electric Power Co. facility basically meet the government's new safety standards for restarting operations — including measures to prevent a severe accident if reactors are hit by earthquakes or tsunami.
Edano is to meet with Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa and Oi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka to explain the government's views. But the visit may be postponed because of North Korea's planned rocket launch.