A cooling processing apparatus includes: a processing vessel; an electrostatic chuck installed in the processing vessel, the electrostatic chuck having a mounting surface on which an object to be processed is mounted; a cooling mechanism configured to cool the electrostatic chuck; and a lamp heating device configured to remove moisture attached to the mounting surface. Further, a method for operating the cooling processing apparatus includes: decompressing the space in the processing vessel by using the exhaust device; removing the moisture attached to the mounting surface of the electrostatic chuck by using the lamp heating device; and cooling the electrostatic chuck by using the cooling mechanism after the removal of the moisture performed by the lamp heating device is terminated.