Shiga Pref., Takahama Nuclear Plant Operator Sign Safety Accord

SHIGA, JAPAN - JAN. 25: The Shiga prefectural government on Monday signed an agreement with Kansai Electric Power Co. on safety issues concerning its Takahama nuclear power plant, located in adjacent Fukui Prefecture, ahead of its planned restart later in the week. The plant in western Japan will be the second nuclear power station in the country to resume operations under a set of new safety regulations that have been introduced in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster. The safety accord requires Kansai Electric to immediately report emergency situations at the plant and compensate for damage caused by accidents. But it stopped short of giving Shiga Prefecture a say over the reactors' return to service -- the right usually awarded to host municipalities -- as requested by the prefectural government. The Fukushima crisis has led the central government to expand the buffer areas around nuclear power plants that should prepare for evacuation from a 10-kilometer radius to 30 km, and local governments which do not host the plants but could be largely hit by accidents have called for a greater say on safety matters. Shiga Prefecture, a small part of which falls within the 30 km zone, has sought to be part of the process of giving local consent to Kansai Electric on the restart of the four-reactor Takahama complex, but the utility did not agree to the request. Only Fukui Prefecture and the town of Takahama that host the plant were involved in the process. Shiga Gov. Taizo Mikazuki said Monday the signing of the accord marked "progress" in terms of fulfilling the prefecture's responsibility to ensure the safety of local people. But Mikazuki later told reporters that he told Kansai Electric President Makoto Yagi, who attended the signing ceremony together with the governor, that he was reluctant to accept the resumption and asked that Shiga Prefecture be treated in the same way as host areas.