Tokyo Electric Power Company said it will accept sanctions imposed by regulators over a lack of anti-terrorism measures at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa-7 nuclear plant in Niigata prefecture, a step that will prevent the restart of the facility for at least a year.

Tepco made the announcement in response to a decision by the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in late March to ban it from moving any nuclear materials at Kashiwazaki Kariwa-7. The measure will mean steps to restart the plant are on hold.

Regulators found malfunctioning anti-terrorism equipment and inadequate protection of nuclear materials at multiple locations at the plant from at least 2018.