OSAKA –

Yutaka Nose, mayor of Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, agreed Thursday to a restart of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors, saying he made his decision after consultations on safety issues with the central government.

"After considering the overall relevant factors, Takahama has decided it understands the restarts," Nose told the town assembly.

However, with a provisional injunction against a restart in place against the two reactors due to safety concerns, and with Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa still to decide whether to grant permission for a restart, the future of the reactors remains unclear.

Nose's decision marks another formal step toward an eventual restart of the reactors, but was not a surprise, as the strongly pro-nuclear mayor and the assembly had long pushed for early restarts to prop up the local economy.

The two reactors were cleared by the Nuclear Regulation Authority in February for restart and the Takahama Municipal Assembly gave its permission to do so in March. But in April, the Fukui District Court, citing safety concerns, issued the injunction against restarting. Kepco is seeking to have the injunction lifted.

Kepco welcomed Nose's decision, saying it was taken with safety concerns about local evacuations in the event of a disaster in mind.

Anti-nuclear groups slammed the approval, saying that Nose was ignoring the court's reasons for the provisional injunction, and just repeating that the NRA had signed off on safety without thoroughly considering what was lacking.

"It's highly irresponsible for the Takahama mayor to state his 'understanding' for the restarts when there's no back-up emergency control room at the site which can withstand an earthquake," said Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of Kyoto-based Green Action.

"During the Fukushima accident, such a seismic-isolation building was crucial for containing the accident. Japan is repeating its pre-Fukushima mistakes," she said.