Opposition among Kansai leaders to restarting reactors 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture remains strong.
But at the same time, a few have recently signaled they might be open to storing spent fuel from Oi and other prefectural plants in their localities.
Earlier this month, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa told trade minister Yukio Edano that spent fuel sitting inside the prefecture's commercial reactors should be stored in areas where the electricity is consumed, meaning the Kansai region.