Located in Ehime Prefecture and operated by Shikoku Electric Power, the Ikata plant features three reactors.
The agency has approved a provisional assessment stating that the Ikata No. 3 reactor complies with the amended regulations for nuclear facilities.
The safety approval will be open to public comment before it is finalized.
The company is due to secure two more approvals prior to final sign-off by the NRA to resume operations at the third reactor.
Kansai Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power have recently completed the first stage of regulatory checks for their nuclear plants in the country.
In September last year, two reactors at Kyushu Electric Power-owned Sendai nuclear power station have secured regulatory approvals to restart operations.
The Fukushima disaster forced Japan to shut all its 48 nuclear reactors and switch to fossil fuels for power generation.
During the fiscal ended 31 March, the country spent $65bn on liquefied natural gas imports.
Image: Shikoku Electric Power-operated Ikata nuclear power plant. Photo: courtesy of ja:User:Newsliner / Wikipedia.
