Power industry faces hardship / Fate of Tsuruga nuclear pl.

Power industry faces hardship / Fate of Tsuruga nuclear plant could lead to further price hikes

Tadaaki Inoue and Yukiko Yamamoto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

Yomiuri

As the Nuclear Regulation Authority has indicated it will not approve the restart of the No. 2 reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, power companies and consumers are likely to be affected in various ways.

Kansai Electric Power Co. included the maintenance cost of the nuclear plant, which is operated by Japan Atomic Power Co., in its price hike plan submitted to the central government. If the Tsuruga plant is decommissioned, power companies may have to bear an additional burden, which …