Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) on Wednesday adopted a draft screening report declaring the No. 2 reactor of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture noncompliant with the country's new safety standards.

The NRA will decide whether to formally adopt the report after collecting public comments on it for about a month.

While it will be effectively impossible to restart the 1.16-million-kilowatt Tsuruga No. 2 reactor if the report is formally adopted, Japan Atomic Power, the operator of the plant, has indicated that it will reapply for approval to get the reactor back online.