Suspended reactor to be resumed next year

TOKYO, Dec. 3 Kyodo - Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it will start up one of the seven reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, all of which remain suspended since a major earthquake in Niigata Prefecture in July last year, for a functional test probably next year.

TEPCO said it plans to gradually power up the No. 7 reactor to check if it
works properly, as a move to shifting the preparation process for resumption of
its operations to the final stage.
Japan's largest nuclear power complex on the Sea of Japan coast automatically
shut down when the magnitude 6.8 deadly offshore quake struck July 16 last
year. It also caused a fire at an electrical transformer in the non-reactor
area and leakage of water containing a minute amount of radioactive substance
into the sea.
TEPCO will soon present the plan to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency as
well as localities concerned.