Local mayor OKs restarting Oi nuclear reactors.

FUKUI, Japan, June 14 Kyodo

The mayor of Oi town said Thursday he will accept the central government's call to restart two idled reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in the town in Fukui Prefecture, while the prefecture's governor is also expected to announce his approval of the restart soon.

Meanwhile, the Fukui prefectural assembly met to discuss whether to reactivate the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Kansai Electric Power Co. plant. Assembly members are expected to leave the decision up to Issei Nishikawa, the governor of Fukui Prefecture, which is home to 14 nuclear reactors, the most among Japan's 47 prefectures.

Nishikawa has already effectively expressed his intention to agree to restart the Oi reactors.

In light of the developments in the coastal town and the prefectural assembly, the governor is expected to convey the prefecture's acceptance of the restart to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda as early as Saturday morning, moving toward ending the country's first period without reliance on nuclear power in decades.

All of the 50 commercial reactors in the country are currently offline amid heightened public concerns over nuclear power following the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi power plant, with the last one deactivated in early May.

Oi Mayor Shinobu Tokioka said he agreed to bring the reactors back online because the prefecture's nuclear safety commission confirmed the reactors' safety, and in consideration of the responsibility to supply electricity to consumers.

Prime Minister Noda's statement last week of the need for nuclear power, as well as the government's plan to enhance safety surveillance for the restart, also encouraged him to accept the reactors' reactivation, Tokioka said.

At the start of the prefecture's assembly meeting, Nishikawa said, "I'd like to make the prefecture's final decision after listening to opinions of each group of the prefectural assembly."

As to assembly members' remarks that antinuclear disaster measures are still insufficient, Nishikawa responded by saying, "We would like to take steps that can assure security steadily."