A nuclear plant in southern Japan has cleared a safety hurdle which could see it become the first nuclear facility to restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave preliminary safety approval for Kyushu Electric Co's Sendai plant on Wednesday, accepting its upgraded design and safety features.

The new safety standards involve safeguards against natural disasters, like earthquakes and tsunami, and severe nuclear accidents.

This is expected to lead to the nuclear station's restart by September-November.

Japan's reactors were gradually taken offline, with the last one shutting down last year, after an earthquake and tsunami triggered nuclear meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.

The Fukushima disaster shook public confidence in atomic power and exposed close ties between the powerful nuclear industry and a regulator that was overseen by a government arm that promoted the energy source.

The NRA, an independent watchdog set up in 2012, has been vetting restart applications for plants for over a year. Nine of Japan's electric utilities have applied to restart 19 reactors.

Safety concerns remain

Sendai's approval comes as a relief for Kyushu Electric, which has posted three years of losses and asked for a bailout by a state-backed bank.

The company expects to spend more than $3 billion to upgrade its two nuclear plants in southern Japan.

The NRA decision will also help the broader nuclear industry. The approval process for the five other plants with similar pressurised-water reactors will likely go more quickly, said NRA director Tomoya Ichimura.

Japan's nuclear reactors were switched off after the 2011 quake-tsunami disaster triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. ( AFP: Tomohiro Ohsumi )

A restart of the Sendai plant would also be a boost for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is pushing to restart the country's 48 nuclear reactors.

Mr Abe's government has said it will defer to local communities to give final approval on reopening nuclear facilities.

More than half the 30,000 residents living near the Sendai plant recently submitted a petition opposing a restart of the plant, citing an unrealistic and inefficient evacuation plan.

Opponents of nuclear power have so far gained little political traction, but a candidate backed by Mr Abe's party lost a regional election on Sunday, partly over concerns about nuclear safety.

The shutdown of Japan's nuclear industry, which supplied about one-third of Japan's electricity before Fukushima, has led to rising electricity rates for residents and businesses and has contributed to a record string of 23 months of trade deficits.

Reuters

