Three inactive Japanese nuclear reactors, one unoperated for 40 years, have received a green signal from local authorities to resume operations to restart them.
This Wednesday, the Japanese government Tatsuii Sugimoto of Fukui Prefecture assembly gave approval to restart the Unit I & II Kansai Electric power reactors at the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant and Unit III at the Mihama plant.
The decision was followed by a petition from a pro-nuclear group.
Approval of the reactivation of the three reactors ultimately rests on Fukui governor Tatsuji Sugimoto. It is expected the decision will be made soon after a meeting with industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama and Kansai Electric President Takashi Morimoto.
Hiroshi Kajiyama has promised up to 2.5 billion yen in government grants for the restart.
In a statement, Sugimoto addressed having understood the assembly’s positive stance on the restart of the reactors. He will be visiting both the nuclear power plants this Saturday.
This step of restarting the nuclear reactors comes after Prime minister Yoshihide Suga’s announcement of reducing the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by the year 2030.