Japan to fast-track some nuclear restarts May break logjam
(Reuters) - Japan will fast-track the restart of some nuclear reactors, the regulator said on Wednesday, potentially breaking a logjam that has kept the country without nuclear power in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
Making a priority list for a few nuclear plants will move them forward in an approval process that has become bogged down in laborious safety checks and paperwork.
It remains unclear when any of Japan's 48 reactors could come back on-line, but fast-tracking the process is good news for the nuclear industry, which had been hoping to begin the restarts by the middle of this year.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), an independent body created in 2012, said it will craft a priority list of plants that meet its earthquake and tsunami criteria as early as next month, selecting a few to expedite from six pressurised water reactors run by Kansai Electric Power Co, Kyushu Electric Power, Hokkaido Electric Power and Shikoku Electric Power.
Link to to full report: https://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/19/uk-japan-nuclear-restarts-idUKBREA1I0QE20140219