The Nuclear Regulation Authority has effectively given the safety clearance for restarting Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s idled Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture — the first under power plant safety standards updated a year ago.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has reiterated that his administration will move to reactivate nuclear reactors that have passed NRA screening, and the power industry hopes that the decision will pave the way for getting back online many other nuclear power plants across Japan that were halted in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
However, the NRA's nod covers only some technical aspects of nuclear power generation safety in this natural disaster-prone country. Blind faith in what the Abe administration has billed the world's top-level plant safety standards could lead to a revival of the "safety myth" of nuclear power that was prevalent before the March 2011 triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 plant.