Japan set to restart world's biggest nuclear power plant

"Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the latest plant to restart 15 years after the Fukushima disaster shut down the country's nuclear energy programme. Japan is set to resume operations at the world's largest nuclear power plant: Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. The partial restart of the plant got the green light in a vote on Monday by the Niigata local government. Japan has reopened several nuclear facilities as it seeks to reduce emissions, reversing policy 15 years after 54 reactors were shut in the wake of the Fukushima disaster."

"Niigata prefecture's assembly passed a vote of confidence on Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, who backed the restart last month, effectively allowing the plant to begin operations again. The 2011 triple meltdown at Fukushima, following an earthquake and tsunami, destroyed Japan's trust in its nuclear energy infrastructure. However, the environmental and economic costs of relying on imported fossil fuels have led Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to back reopening some of the shuttered plants."

"Fourteen of the 33 nuclear plants that remain operable in the country have been resurrected. However, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first to be operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which ran the Fukushima plant. TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported. The first reactor alone could boost electricity supply to the Tokyo area by 2 percent, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has estimated."

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will restart 15 years after the Fukushima disaster shut down Japan's nuclear energy programme. Niigata prefecture passed a vote of confidence on Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, enabling the plant's partial restart after local approval. The 2011 triple meltdown at Fukushima destroyed public trust in nuclear infrastructure. Rising environmental and economic costs of imported fossil fuels and government support have driven a policy reversal toward reopening some reactors. Fourteen of 33 operable plants have resumed activity, and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by TEPCO. The first reactor could raise Tokyo-area supply by about 2 percent, while community divisions and protests persist.

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