Kyushu Electric Power Company has restarted unit 1 of its Sendai nuclear power plant in Japan's Kagoshima prefecture having completed construction of a bunkered back-up control centre as required under revised safety regulations. The 890 MWe pressurised water reactor is the first unit to resume operation in the country after building such a facility.

Tohoku Electric Power Company today received approval from Murai Yoshihiro, the governor of Miyagi Prefecture, to restart unit 2 of its Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeastern Japan prefecture. The utility aims to restart the 796 MWe boiling water reactor in fiscal 2022 at the earliest.

Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) today approved the operational safety programme submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) for its seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Tepco is working towards restarting units 6 and 7 at the site in Niigata prefecture.

Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority yesterday approved safety measures submitted by Tokyo Electric Power Company for unit 7 of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata prefecture. The approval brings the unit one step closer to restart, pending local consent.

Safety improvement work to enable Mihama unit 3 and Takahama unit 1 - both in Japan's Fukui Prefecture - to operate for an additional 20 years, to 60 years, has now been completed, Kansai Electric Power Company announced today. Work needed to extend the operation of unit 2 of the Takahama plant continues.

The expected completion of the reprocessing plant at Rokkasho in Japan's Aomori Prefecture has been put back again, to the first-half of FY2022 (ending March 2023), owing to the implementation of safety measures at the plant, including construction of a new cooling tower, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited has announced.

The Swedish government has approved a Radiation Safety Authority proposal to implement new emergency preparedness zones around nuclear power plants by July 2022. Internal and external emergency zones as well as a planning zone will be set at a radius of 5, 25 and 100 km, respectively.

Tepco Holdings Corporation and Toshiba Energy Systems Corporation have agreed to establish a joint venture company to conduct safety upgrade work at unit 6 of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Tepco plans to restart units 6 and 7 of the plant, which is in Japan's Niigata Prefecture.

Japan Atomic Energy Agency has today received permission from the Nuclear Regulation Authority to make changes to the reactor installation of the High-Temperature Test Reactor in conformity with revised safety requirements. This marks the first time a restart permission has been granted for a Japanese gas-cooled reactor.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority today approved a draft report concluding Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited's reprocessing plant at Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture meets new safety standards. The approval brings the plant, construction of which began in 1993, closer to starting up.

Japan Atomic Power Company has applied to the Japanese regulator for pre-use inspections of unit 2 at its Tokai nuclear power plant in Ibaraki prefecture. These inspections mark the final regulatory stage in the restart procedure for the country's reactors.

Kyushu Electric Power Company today took unit 1 of its Sendai nuclear power plant offline as it had failed to meet the deadline for completion of a back-up control centre. It's the first time operation of a Japanese reactor has been temporarily suspended for this reason. It plans to take unit 2 offline in May for the same reason.