Two nuclear reactors in Japan passed new safety standards on Wednesday, for the first time since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima three and a half years ago.
The move brings Japan closer to restarting domestic nuclear power generation after the government shut down all of its nuclear plants in the wake of the disaster, which followed an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Two reactors at the Sendai power plant in Kagoshima prefecture in the south of the country obtained safety clearance from regulators on Wednesday.
The plant operated by Kyushu Electric was unlikely to start operating before December, due to unfinished paperwork, Kyodo New Agency reported.
Currently all 48 of Japan’s commercial reactors are idle.
