Japanese nuclear power plant death threatens to delay restart
A worker was killed after falling into a silo containing gravel needed to help build a seawall at Unit 3 of the Tomari plant late on Tuesday.
A worker died at the sole nuclear power plant in Hokkaido, potentially delaying its restart after being offline for over a decade. The fatality occurred on Tuesday when the man fell into a gravel silo used to construct a seawall at Unit 3 of the Tomari plant, according to Hokkaido Electric Power. The utility had planned to restart the reactor in mid-December 2027, as reported by Hokkaido Shimbun in July.
Hokkaido Electric will "reconsider the restart date following an investigation into the incident," a company spokesperson said on the phone. Japan's nuclear power sector, which has been dormant since reactors were required to shut down following the 2011 Fukushima accident, has been closely monitoring the situation at the Hokkaido plant.
Tomari, which ceased operations in May 2012, received vital approval from the local governor last November, and its restart would significantly influence power prices on the island, as per BloombergNEF.
Written by urgent.news from Japan Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
