Japan’s NRA lifts operational ban on an 8 GW nuclear power plant in Niigata

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has lifted an operational ban on the 8 GW Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, located in Japan’s Niigata prefecture. The lift will allow the operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) to work towards gaining local permission to restart two units (6&7) of the power plant, which has been offline since 2012 following the Fukushima disaster of 2011.

The lifted ban was put in place in 2021, when the NRA barred TEPCO from operating the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, its only operable nuclear power plant, due to safety breaches including a failure to protect nuclear materials. The security breaches came to light despite the complex's Units 6 and 7 having met the NRA's stricter safety standards, imposed after the 2011 disaster. Units 1 through 5 have not yet filed for restart, contrary to Units 6 and 7.

Following the decision, Tepco has announced it would continue its efforts to regain the trust of the local authorities in order to restart the facility, which is described as the world’s largest nuclear power plant. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa comprises five BWR reactors of 1,067 MW each, and two ABWR units of 1,315 MW each, all commissioned between 1985 and 1997.

In June 2023, the Japanese parliament enacted a law to allow nuclear reactors in Japan to operate beyond their current limit of 60 years, in order to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a sufficient energy supply for the country. Japan’s reliance on nuclear power was reduced following the Fukushima accident, dropping from 25% of the power mix in 2010 to 1% in 2015, and back to 5.3% in 2022. Before the accident, there were 54 reactors spread over 17 power plants (49 GW in 2010 against 33 GW in 2022).