The operator of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast, will begin loading nuclear fuel into one of its reactors on Monday as it prepares to put it back online.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says it will start putting fuel into the plant's No.7 reactor from around 4 p.m. on Monday after obtaining the regulator's approval.

In 2017, the plant's No.6 and No.7 reactors passed the Nuclear Regulation Authority's screening for a restart. But the regulator issued an order to effectively ban the plant's operation in 2021 after flaws in its anti-terrorism measures came to light.

The NRA lifted the order last December. Tokyo Electric filed an application in March to load fuel into the No.7 reactor to carry out the necessary tests.

The utility says it will lift 872 fuel rod assemblies stored in the pool of the No.7 reactor building one by one to put into the reactor. It says the work will take about two weeks.

The company plans to carry out tests for quickly shutting down the reactor in an emergency and confirming the performance of cooling systems.

Tokyo Electric has not set a date for the restart.

Gaining local consent will be a key factor. Niigata Governor Hanazumi Hideyo is cautious.

He says the powerful quake that hit neighboring Ishikawa Prefecture has increased residents' worries about how they could evacuate in the event of an accident.

Hanazumi says he will closely watch the central government's moves on a restart.