Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) plans to reactivate its long-idled 1,356MW No.6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on 20 January 2026, with the aim of beginning normal operations on 26 February.
On 24 December, Tepco submitted the potential target dates for resuming tests and normal operations of the reactor in Niigata prefecture, northwest Japan, to the country's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). Tepco will assess the reactor's integrity during the test runs.
The submission came two days after the Niigata prefectural assembly passed a vote of confidence on its governor Hideyo Hanazumi on 22 December, who had sought the assembly's judgement on his plan to approve the restart of the No.6 and No.7 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa.
The return of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant could be a milestone in Tepco's progress in nuclear power generation after the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011, with the No.6 unit marking the utility's first reactor to be restarted after the meltdown disaster.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant comprises of seven reactors with a combined capacity of 8,212MW, of which the No.6 and No.7 units have cleared the stricter post-Fukushima safety inspections. The No.7 unit will be required to remain shut until August 2029 for the installation of anti-terrorism facilities. Tepco has yet to file an application with NRA for screening of the five other reactors, while it is mulling scrapping the No.1 and No.2 reactors.
