Japan puts two reactors on shortlist (The positive news is that the government is as determined as ever to make restarts happen. The difficulty remains getting local approval is each area where the reactors are located. This report today contains nothing greatly new but iis worth reading for anyone who has been following the situation.)
Japan puts two reactors on shortlist Reuters) - Japan put two reactors on a shortlist for a final round of safety checks on Thursday, moving a step closer to a revival of the country's nuclear industry, three years after the Fukushima disaster led to the shutdown of all plants.
No timing for a potential restart was decided and the next stage of checks incorporates a period of public hearings, which may be a fraught process given widespread skepticism nationally about a return to nuclear power.
Two days after the third anniversary of the meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear station, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) placed two reactors operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co on a list for priority screening at a meeting of officials reviewing restart applications.
Kyushu Electric's Sendai reactors are located about 980 kilometers (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo. The utility is one of the most reliant of Japan's regional electricity monopolies on nuclear power, which supplied about a third of Japan's electricity before Fukushima.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a strong supporter of nuclear power, finalized a mid-term energy plan last month, which embraces nuclear power and calls for the restart of reactors deemed safe by regulators, overturning the previous administration's plan to eventually mothball all units.
Link to full report: https://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-japan-nuclear-restarts-idUSBREA2C0F620140313