A just-restarted reactor at a nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture will likely be the last one in Japan to resume commercial operations this year, the Nikkei reported in its Friday morning edition.

The No. 4 reactor at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s (9503.TO) Oi plant went back online Thursday. That unit and the No. 3 reactor there are now back in service.

The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s (9509.TO) Tomari power plant, and the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s (9508.TO) Sendai power plant, are seen as most likely to return to normal next. They have passed the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's stress tests, a prerequisite for resuming commercial operations.

But "there is little hope" of their going back online by the end of the year, according to a high-ranking official at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

This is because a new nuclear safety watchdog will not be launched until next month, and new safety standards are not likely to be finalized until next July.

It is possible to apply provisional standards, just as the authorities did with Oi. But if the new watchdog goes down that road, it could undermine its reason for existing. As a result, the safety assessment process for the next reactor to resume commercial operations will likely be carried out very carefully.

The watchdog is also expected to evaluate nuclear plants' measures against earthquakes and tsunamis, while municipalities hosting the plants must draw up new disaster response and evacuation plans.

"It will probably take one year or so to complete everything," a high-ranking official at the nuclear agency says.
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