The No. 3 reactor of the Mihama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture was cleared Monday to resume operations suspended since a fatal steam leak last year, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
The Aug. 9, 2004, accident at the Kansai Electric Power Co. reactor, in which superheated nonradioactive steam leaked from a ruptured pipe, left five dead people and six seriously injured. It was blamed on pipes that had not been inspected for 28 years.
The agency ordered the utility to suspend the reactor's operations in September 2004 until it was confirmed to meet government standards.
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