The
It is expected to take about two weeks of round-the-clock work to complete the loading of 872 fuel assemblies into the reactor pressure vessel.
It will increase the number of night shift workers from eight to 51 and prepare portable radiation monitoring posts in addition to fixed ones.
Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi has yet to announce whether he will agree to restart the reactor, and it is rare for a nuclear plant operator to start refueling one without local consent. The governor has been calling for extensive discussions on measures to ensure people's safety in the event of a nuclear accident.
Around 60 people gathered to hand a letter of protest to a
"I am not convinced at all because there are people who are still suffering from (the consequences of) the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident," said
She had to evacuate from the town of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture after the 2011 disaster. Okuma is one of the two municipalities hosting the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Since the nuclear disaster, all 12 reactors restarted elsewhere in the country have received local consent before nuclear refueling.
The No. 7 unit of the plant, which supplies electricity to the
However, safety flaws identified at the plant led the NRA to issue an operational ban, which was in force from
The central government has been seeking the governor's approval for the restart as it aims to reintroduce nuclear power production to resource-poor
Hanazumi has said challenges remain concerning how to evacuate residents if an accident occurs, particularly in light of the powerful
Meanwhile, mayors in the two municipalities that host the facility have taken a positive stance toward the proposed restart.
The seven-reactor facility that straddles the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa has a maximum output of 8.212 million kilowatts and is one of the world's largest electricity producers.
==Kyodo
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