Overtime caps for truck drivers coupled with soaring fuel prices could put transport companies out of business, unless consignors agree to higher fees.
Starting in April, a project in the Aomori city of Mutsu, at the northern tip of Honshu, will grow tomatoes using a new cultivation method that will go beyond zero carbon and actually absorb more CO2 than it emits. Built on a large abandoned farm, the facility will also create 100 new jobs.
The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, seen in the background, at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama nuclear plant in Takahama, Fukui Prefecture, in November 2020 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
When push came to shove, Fukui Governor Tatsuji Sugimoto went silent on his demand that resuming operations at three aging nuclear reactors in Fukui hinged on storing spent nuclear fuel outside his prefecture.
Sugimoto announced at a news conference on April 28 that he was approving the resumption of operations at the Takahama and Mihama nuclear power plants, but made no mention of setting up an interim storage facility or spent nuclear fuel until reporters asked him about it.
Mayor gives Japan’s first approval for restart of reactors over 40 years old,
Japan Times, BY ERIC JOHNSTON, STAFF WRITER, Feb 1, 2021
OSAKA – The mayor of the town of Takahama in Fukui Prefecture granted permission Monday for the restart of the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama Nuclear Power Plant, becoming the first local leader in the nation to approve use of nuclear reactors more than 40 years old. The Takahama No. 1 reactor is 46 years old and the No. 2 reactor is 45.
Kepco will now seek restart approval from the prefectural government. But with questions still unanswered about where spent fuel generated by the reactors will be stored, it is unclear whether the utility’s plans to have both reactors online this spring can be realized.