Japan’s nuclear watchdog agency has given Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) conditional approval to restart two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. The units were taken offline after the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown in March 2011.

The country’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on September 13 said TEPCO could restart the units after it provides a detailed plan of how it can ensure the operational safety of the boiling-water reactors, the same type that operated at Fukushima, which was crippled after an earthquake and tsunami struck the region, resulting in flooding at the nuclear plant. The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported the NRA’s action.

A district court in March of this year ruled that TEPCO and the Japanese government were aware of risks at Fukushima and could have taken action to avoid the meltdown of three reactors.

TEPCO Under Scrutiny

Units 6 and 7 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture were among 54 nuclear facilities in Japan—the country’s entire nuclear fleet—ordered to shut down after the 2011 earthquake.…

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