Finding no serious problems with the nation's only two reactors currently online, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday it will allow them to continue operations after new safety rules for atomic plants are introduced next Monday.
While all 50 of the nation's commercial reactors will be obliged to meet the new nuclear standards from next week in order to be restarted, reactors 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi plant will continue operations until sometime in September, when they will be taken offline for mandatory routine checks.
The operators of other reactors are expected to begin applying for their restarts once the new regulations come into force. Tokyo Electric Power Co. has already said it will seek the restart of two of its reactors in Niigata Prefecture by immediately applying for the state safety assessment.