The Nuclear Regulation Authority today formally accepted a report concluding unit 2 of Tohoku Electric Power Company's Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture meets revised safety standards. The plant was the closest nuclear power plant to the epicentre of the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011, but sustained far less damage than expected.

The restart of unit 2 of the Tokai nuclear power plant will be delayed by almost two years as construction of improved safety measures is taking longer than originally planned, Japan Atomic Power Company announced yesterday. Kansai Electric Power Company has also said Takahama units 3 and 4 will be taken offline later this year for extended period inspections while construction of back-up control centres is completed.

Evacuation orders in the towns of Futaba, Okuma and Tomioka - imposed after the March 2011 accident at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant - are to be partially lifted in early-March. The areas include three train stations, allowing a full service to resume on the JR Joban Line.

Following the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Japanese government launched decontamination work in the surrounding area. With most of this work now completed, the European Geosciences Union has today published an assessment of the effectiveness of the strategies used, with a focus on radiocaesium.

Tohoku Electric Power Company has received initial regulatory approval to resume operation of unit 2 at its Onagawa plant in Japan's Miyagi Prefecture. The plant was the closest nuclear power plant to the epicentre of the earthquake and tsunami of 11 March 2011, but sustained far less damage than expected.

A Japanese court today acquitted three former Tokyo Electric Power Company executives charged with failing to prevent the March 2011 accident at the company's Fukushima Daiichi plant. The judge ruled they could not have foreseen the massive earthquake and tsunami that led to the meltdown of three of the plant's reactors.

Japanese ministries and other organisations are working together - with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency - to deliver the ultimate decontamination and decommissioning of the former Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Progress is being made to remove all used fuel and debris from units 1-3, while the challenge of removing large volumes of treated water stored at the site is being addressed, speakers told a side event at the 63rd IAEA General Conference.

Tokyo Electric Power Company will consider the decommissioning of one or more units at its seven-unit Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the company has informed Kashiwazaki City Mayor Masahiro Sakurai. The utility plans to restart units 6 and 7 at the plant, in Japan's Niigata Prefecture.

Tohoku Electric Power Company has applied to Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority for approval of its decommissioning plan for unit 1 of the Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture. The company announced in October 2018 its decision to scrap the unit as it said required safety upgrades would be too expensive and time-consuming.

Japan's Tokyo Electric Power Company today announced its official decision to decommission the four reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, close to the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant. The company said in June 2018 that it was considering decommissioning the plant in conjunction with Fukushima Daiichi in response to local demands for a decision on the fate of the site.

Some residents of Okuma, the closest town to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, have today been allowed to return home. The evacuation order issued in 2011 has been lifted for the more mountainous and less inhabited western area, where around 380 of the town's former population of 10,500 lived.