By Yuki Kanahori and Hiroyuki Kume

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

A turning point was marked on Friday in Japan's policy on nuclear power plants with the enactment of a new law enabling the nation's plants to operate for more than 60 years. The policy had been in limbo since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

The law on power sources for green transformation and decarbonization took full effect on the day, supporting the long-term operation of the plants. Before the law's enactment, nuclear power plants in Japan were permitted to operate for a period of 40 years in principle, though the period could be extended up to 60 years with approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). Under the new system, suspensions can be excluded when calculating the period if the power providers are not responsible for them, effectively allowing the plants to operate for more than 60 years. Approval to operate the plants beyond 40 years will now be given by the economy, trade and industry minister instead of the NRA.

Meanwhile, the everyday operations of nuclear power plants will continue to be subject to NRA safety checks. When a plant is scheduled to operate beyond 30 years, each power company must formulate every 10 years a new "long-term facility management plan" with measures to address problems such as age-related degradation of reactors, and the plan must be approved by the NRA. Once a plant has been operating for more than 60 years, additional inspections based on the latest knowledge are required every 10 years.

The first nuclear reactor in Japan likely to operate beyond 60 years is the No. 1 reactor of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. The reactor, Japan's oldest, started operating in 1974. In 2016, the reactor was approved to extend its operating period to 60 years. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, its operations were suspended for 12 years and 6 months due to safety inspections that required stricter measures to be taken against accidents, among other reasons. Under the new law, the plant's operating period can be extended by the duration of the hiatus.

The new system reflects a shift in the government's policy on nuclear power plants. In February, the Cabinet approved the 7th Strategic Energy Plan, in which a statement pledging to reduce the nation's reliance on nuclear power plants "as much as possible" was deleted. The statement had appeared in previous plans. In its place, a statement was included to affirm the necessity to "maximize" the use of the nation's nuclear power plants as a power source that drives decarbonization.

Twelve reactors from seven nuclear power plants have already finished the necessary procedures to comply with the new system, having obtained approval for their long-term facility management plans.

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This article is from The Yomiuri Shimbun. Neither Dow Jones Newswires, MarketWatch, Barron's nor The Wall Street Journal were involved in the creation of this content.

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June 06, 2025 03:45 ET (07:45 GMT)

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