Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. is considering a plan to decommission some of the No. 1 to No. 5 reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in central Japan, on condition that its newer No. 6 and No. 7 reactors are allowed to resume operations, President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said Monday.
Kobayakawa unveiled the plan in a meeting with Masahiro Sakurai, mayor of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture. The nuclear plant straddles Kashiwazaki facing the Sea of Japan and the village of Kariwa.
Under TEPCO’s basic plan shown to the Kashiwazaki city government, the company will take steps, including possible decommissioning, for at least one of the No. 1 to No. 5 reactors within five years of the restart of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors if it makes progress in securing nonfossil fuel power sources.
TEPCO added that it needs to operate the No. 1 to No. 5 reactors for stable electricity supplies for the time being. The company said it plans to exchange opinions with the Kashiwazaki city government regularly in order to explain progress on its efforts to secure nonfossil fuel power sources.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Sakurai said that although he believes TEPCO has submitted the best plan it has available at the moment, he cannot make a final decision on whether to allow the restart of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors.
Source: Nippon.com