Restarting the world's largest nuclear power plant will likely take "several years," the governor of Niigata Prefecture said Thursday, highlighting the difficulty of concluding the nuclear disaster reviews sparked by the triple core meltdown of March 2011.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., better known as Tepco, has been trying to reactivate the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, the world's largest by generation capacity, to generate much-needed revenue to offset ballooning costs and redress claims stemming from the 2011 nuclear disaster.
"There can be no discussions about a restart without reviewing" factors including the cause of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and evacuation plans for residents, Niigata Gov. Ryuichi Yoneyama said in his first talks with Tepco executives since assuming office in October.