Nuclear Reactor Facilities Regulation Act Article 6

Even after the completion of construction of nuclear reactor facilities, the facilities shall not be loaded with the nuclear fuel, unless the competent authority has reviewed and approved its final safety analysis report, and the corrective actions of inspection findings during the construction and the system functional tests thereof have been passed. Unless the competent authority has reviewed and approved the power test therefor and then issued an operating license therefor, no nuclear reactor facilities, having been loaded with the nuclear fuel, shall be formally operated.The valid period of the operating license referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be forty years at longest, and when there is need to continue operation after the license is expired, an application for renewing the license thereof may be filed by the licensee to the competent authority before the operating license is expired. The operation thereof shall not be continued without the renewal of license in accordance with the provision.When there is need to continue operation after the license is expired, an application for renewing the license thereof may be filed by the licensee to the competent authority. The operation thereof can be continued only if the competent authority confirms that there is no safety concern about the nuclear reactor facility and approves the renewal of the license.The various provisions of paragraph 1 of the preceding Article shall apply mutatis mutandis to the issuance and the renewal of an operating license；The valid period of renewed operating license shall be twenty years at longest, from the effective date of the operating license；The regulations for the documents requisite for the application in this context, review and approval procedures and other matters to be complied therewith shall be prescribed by the competent authority.