A town assembly gave the green light on 18 December to resume operations at the Mihama-3 nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture, western Japan.
Kansai Electric is keen to resume operation of the 780-MW pressurised water reactor unit in January. It has been offline for about a decade following the 2011 Fukushima-Daiichi accident.
In September Kansai Electric said work had been completed to extend the operational lifetime of the plant.
Key local officials will also have to sign off on the plan, and press reports in Japan said no further decisions are anticipated before the end of the year.
Mihama-3 began commercial operation in December 1976. The plant has been authorised by the regulator to run beyond the usual limit of 40 years, a change to legislation which the government introduced after the 2011 disaster.
In exceptional cases reactors can operate for 60 years if the facilities, and the operators’ plans to ensure their safety, are approved by the regulators.
Most of the work at Mihama-3 has been related to improving the unit's seismic resistance.
