<span style="color: #222222;">Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has lifted an operational ban it imposed on Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) massive Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant two years ago, clearing the path for it to resume a process towards a restart. But a resumption still needs local consent in Niigata prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast.</span> <br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">With a capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW), the plant has been offline since around 2011, when the Fukushima disaster prompted the eventual shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan at the time. Citing improvements in the safety management system, the NRA today lifted a corrective action order that had prevented Tepco from transporting new uranium fuel to the plant or loading fuel rods into its reactors, effectively blocking a resumption.</span><br />