Four Japan's NPP Operators Seeking to Reach Deal on Safety Cooperation

Four Japanese nuclear power plant (NPP) operators are planning to join their efforts to improve safety of their NPPs and prevent accidents similar to the one that led to the Fukushima disaster, local media reported Tuesday.

TOKYO (Sputnik) — Kansai Electric Power Company, Kyushu Electric Power Company, Chugoku Electric Power Company and Shikoku Electric Power Company hope to reach an agreement on nuclear safety cooperation by the end of the month, the Nikkei newspaper reported.

The newspaper added that the companies would create working groups on the decommission of five obsolete nuclear reactors within the framework of the agreement.

According to the newspaper, the companies are expected to deploy portable generators, fire engines and advanced monitoring equipment at the NPPs under the agreement.

Japan is located in one of the world's most active earthquake zones, with the 2011 high-magnitude earthquake and following tsunami damaging the nuclear Fukushima Daiichi power plant's cooling system. This caused overheating and subsequent meltdown, eventually leading to explosions and an outfall of radioactive matter. The accident became the world's worst nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

After the Fukushima disaster, all the NPPs in Japan were either closed or their operations were suspended. Japan restarted its first nuclear reactor in August 2015, after implementing new safety rules.