Japan nuclear plant gets safety clearance, other reactors may follow

With two of the reactors at a nuclear power plant in Southern Japan cleared of safety hurdles, Japan is set to kick-start its suspended nuclear power operations.

According to The Japan Times, the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture on Wednesday may become the first of the country's 48 idle nuclear power plants to restart operations after it was declared to have met the strict safety standards laid down after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

However, it is still unclear when exactly will the reactors be allowed to fire up. A report released by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has although cleared the Sendai yet the nuclear plant will receive an official nod only after a month of public comment on the report. Other hurdles to be cleared include, seeking an approval from local municipalities and the governor of Kagoshima Prefecture, the report added.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that his government is ready to authorize the nuclear reactors to start operations but only after they have been cleared by the regulatory agency. The NRA on the other hand, has although said that it will take a minimum of six months to evaluate each reactor but it took a year to evaluate the Sendai which means, not many nuclear power plants may be allowed to resume operations in the near future.

More than two years after a tsunami, triggered by a mega earthquake, hit the Fukushima nuclear power plant resulting in the melting down of three of its six reactors, the NRA laid down new stricter safety norms in July last year.