(Asahi: February 28, 2015 – p. 3)

 Kyoto Prefecture and Kansai Electric Power Co. signed on Feb. 27 a nuclear safety accord on the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant (in Fukui Prefecture). The accord stipulates that Kansai Electric will provide explanations in advance when it intends to resume operations after an accident occurs at a power plant, and that the utility will respond to the views of the prefecture. Reactors at the Takahama plant are likely to be restarted by the end of this year, but this resumption was excluded from the agreement. The prefecture initially sought a “right to consent” that is similar to the one held by prefectures that host nuclear plants, but this was not included in the agreement. (Abridged)