The governor of Japan’s Niigata prefecture, Hideyo Hanazumi, said on 21 March more talks are needed over the possible restart of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power station, potentially delaying plans to get at least some reactors at the site back in service.

“I would like to deepen the discussion on restarting the plant and carefully assess how the people of the prefecture will perceive it,” Hanazumi was quoted as saying by Kyodo news agency.

On Monday, industry minister Ken Saito said he would dispatch senior officials including Yoshifumi Murase, commissioner of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, to the prefecture to seek support for restarting the world's biggest nuclear station.