Japan regional governor to approve restart of world's biggest nuclear power plant

Approval by Niigata Prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanazumi will remove the last major hurdle for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) 9501.T to go ahead with plans to restart one or two of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa's biggest reactors.

Hanazumi will still need to seek the prefectural assembly's vote of confidence on his decision during its regular session beginning on December 2.

A restart would be the first for TEPCO since the March 2011 tsunami destroyed its Fukushima Daiichi power plant. It would also be a breakthrough for Japan, which after the disaster shut all 54 nuclear reactors in operation at the time, leaving it heavily reliant on fossil fuel imports vulnerable to production shocks and supply disruptions.

Niigata residents remain divided between those supporting the restart and those opposing it, Hanazumi said, adding that providing accurate information about safety measures should help to raise awareness among those living in the area.

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office last month, has said she supports more nuclear relaunches to strengthen energy security and to address the cost of imported energy, which accounts for 60% to 70% of Japan's electricity generation. Japan spent 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, a tenth of its total import costs.

"The restart ... is extremely important from the perspective of reducing ... electricity prices, and securing decarbonized power sources," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said on Friday.

Of the 54 reactors in operation pre-Fukushima, Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable.

TEPCO is planning to bring online units No. 6 and No. 7, which together can produce 2,710 megawatts of electricity, or about a third of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa's total capacity of 8,212 MW. TEPCO has said it plans to decommission some of the other five units at the facility.

In October, TEPCO finished checks at the No. 6 reactor after fuel loading, saying at the time that it had confirmed the main systems required for reactor startup were operating properly.

Commodity analysts at Kpler have already lowered their estimates for LNG imports by Japan, the world's second-biggest buyer after China, by 3 million metric tons to 63 million tons for next year on potential nuclear restarts.

In July, Kansai Electric Power 9503.T, Japan's top nuclear power operator, said it would begin conducting surveys to investigate building a reactor in western Japan that would be the first new unit since the Fukushima disaster.

TEPCO shares closed 1.9% down on Friday, paring losses after Japan's nuclear watchdog said on Thursday that confidential documents were mishandled at the plant. That was better than a 2.4% drop in the Nikkei index .N225.

TEPCO continues to pay compensation for the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011, the world's worst nuclear power accident since Chernobyl in 1986.