The No. 3 reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear power plant, which had been undergoing regular inspection, resumed commercial operation on Aug. 17 after Gov. Harumi Takahashi gave her approval. Thus as far as the formality is concerned, it became the first to resume commercial operation since the major accidents at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Under a government policy, reactors that have been undergoing regular inspection must be put to a first round of stress tests and all the reactors then must undergo a second round of stress tests.
But it is not that the Tomari reactor was put to a stress test. It started going through regular inspection on Jan. 5, was reactivated on March 7 and soon began an "adjustment operation," or an operation almost at full capacity on a test mode. Such an operation usually lasts about a month. But the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency could not easily give the reactor a final check due to resistance by Prime Minister Naoto Kan. Thus the de-facto commercial operation without a final check continued for more than five months.