TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency decided Monday to sign off on the results of an initial stress test on an idled nuclear reactor at the Ikata power plant in the near future, a move that would make it the third reactor to have cleared a key step for resuming operation.The agency said in a revised draft report that it has confirmed through the test that the plant operator Shikoku Electric Power Co. has taken sufficient measures to prevent the reactor from getting into a situation similar to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, even if it is hit by an earthquake and tsunami like the one that occurred in Japan's northeast a year ago.
Once the agency finalizes the report, the Nuclear Safety Commission, the five-member state body tasked with supervising the government's nuclear safety regulations, will check the adequacy of the agency's evaluation on the stress test on the No. 3 unit of the Ikata reactor in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and three ministers concerned are then to judge whether to authorize the restart of the reactor. Read More
