Hokkaido Governor Backs Tomari Nuclear Plant Restart

Sapporo, Nov. 28 (Jiji Press)–Hokkaido Governor Naomichi Suzuki on Friday announced his support for the planned restart of the No. 3 reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.’s Tomari nuclear plant in the northern Japan prefecture. “The use of nuclear power is a realistic option that can be taken for now,” Suzuki told the Hokkaido assembly. Suzuki plans to make a final decision early next month based on discussions in the assembly and the opinions of other related local governments. In remarks at the assembly, the governor mentioned the need for a stable supply of electricity amid an expected surge in demand, an expected drop in electricity rates due to the restart and the carbon-free nature of nuclear power. In August, the central government asked for support for the restart from Hokkaido and four local municipalities, including the village of Tomari, which hosts the power plant. The town of Iwanai voiced its approval Friday, joining the villages of Tomari and Kamoenai and the town of Kyowa. Power demand is expected to spike in Hokkaido as semiconductor maker Rapidus Corp. is slated to begin operating in the prefecture. Many in the business world have been calling for an early restart of the Tomari reactor because Hokkaido’s electricity rates tend to be higher than those in other regions of the country. “(A restart) will lift the economy from the bottom up,” an official of a business group from the prefecture said. If the Hokkaido government agrees to the restart, Hokkaido Electric will be able to make major progress toward the restart of the 912,000-kilowatt reactor in early 2027. But the path to resuming operation remains uncertain, as a lawsuit seeking an injunction on the plant is ongoing at Sapporo High Court. In July this year, the Nuclear Regulation Authority formally adopted a report that the No. 3 reactor meets the new regulatory standards set after the 2011 meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 power plant. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]