Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai said on Wednesday he will agree to the restart of the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear power plant.
Murai made the announcement at a press conference with the mayors of Onagawa and Ishinomaki, where the plant is located.
The prefectural assembly and the assemblies of the two municipalities had already approved the restart. The green light from the governor completes the procedures to secure the local consent needed to resume operations at the plant.
The reactor will be reactivated in fiscal 2022 at the earliest, after the implementation of safety measures, such as the building of seawalls 29 meters above sea level.
It would be the first time a governor has agreed to the restart of a nuclear reactor in areas hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake since regulatory standards launched in 2013 tightened safety screening procedures, and the sixth time a governor has given consent nationwide.
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshi Kajiyama had been seeking Murai's understanding of the necessity of the restart. Murai told Kajiyama of his decision on the day over the phone. The governor will submit a letter of consent in person at a meeting with Kajiyama next week.
"There are local residents who are still suffering," Murai said at the press conference, referring to the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant in neighboring Fukushima Prefecture.
"We asked Tohoku Electric Power Co. and the central government to take appropriate safety measures and confirmed that the host municipalities would also take proper measures. It was a tough decision," he said.
Murai cited power supply stability and economic benefits to the local community as reasons for agreeing to the restart.
After the 2011 earthquake, all three reactors at the Onagawa nuclear power plant were shut down. In 2018, it was decided that the aging No. 1 reactor would be decommissioned. The No. 2 reactor passed a safety screening by the government's Nuclear Regulation Authority in February. Tohoku Electric Power is hoping also to restart the No. 3 reactor.
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