TEPCO's operational ban is lifted, putting it one step closer to restarting reactors in Niigata

Japanese nuclear safety regulators are lifting an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, the operator behind the Fukushima disaster. The move allows TEPCO to resume preparations for restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, another plant it runs, after a more than 10-year stoppage. The plant on the Japan's northern coast of Niigata is TEPCO's only workable nuclear power plant since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami put its Fukushima Daiichi plant out of operation. Now the company is burdened with the growing cost of decommissioning the Fukushima plant and compensating disaster-hit residents. Safety regulators say lifting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa operations ban Wednesday is just the beginning, and TEPCO still needs to keep improving safety measures.