Niigata Gov. Visits Kashiwazaki-Kariwa N-Plant for 1st Time

September 6, 2018

Kashiwazaki, Niigata Pref.- Hideyo Hanazumi, governor of Niigata Prefecture, visited the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in the central Japan prefecture on Thursday for the first time since he took office in June.

He was accompanied by Tomoaki Kobayakawa, president of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. <9501>.

In December last year, the Nuclear Regulation Authority confirmed that the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant meet the country's new safety standards introduced after the 2011 accident at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture of Fukushima.

Local consent is necessary to put the two reactors back online.

Hanazumi mainly inspected the building of the No. 7 reactor. He also checked a quake-resistant facility that can be used as accident response headquarters and tide barriers that were installed after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

"I can understand that efforts are being made in taking safety measures," Hanazumi told reporters after the inspection. "I don't know if they are necessary and sufficient."

Hanazumi has said the prefecture will not discuss whether the plant should resume operations before the completion of its own investigation of the 2011 nuclear accident.

He stressed that this policy remains unchanged after the inspection. Jiji Press