The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday approved a safety screening report that the No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido meets the country's safety standards.

The reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power's plant is the first in Japan that has won such approval since the No. 2 reactor at the Shimane power plant of Chugoku Electric Power, which passed a safety screening in 2021, and the 18th reactor since the current safety standards were adopted.

The Tomari No. 3 reactor, the newest in Japan, started operation in 2009. The authority screened the reactor for an unusually long period of 12 years as it took time for Hokkaido Electric to explain its measures to deal with possible earthquakes and tsunamis.