Two reactors on the Sea of Japan coast in Niigata Prefecture, run by the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, cleared government safety standards on Wednesday, becoming the first of the utility's idled units to pass tightened screening.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority endorsed a draft document that serves as certification that Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Nos. 6 and 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power station have met the new, stricter safety standards introduced after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The two reactors are the newest among the seven units at the complex, one of the world's largest nuclear power plants, with a combined output capacity of 8.2 million kilowatts.