The world’s biggest nuclear power plant has restarted for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.
The governor of Niigata province, where the plant is located, approved its resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided.
After receving the final green light yesterday, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said they were “proceeding with preparations... and plan to remove the control rods after 7pm today and start up the reactor”.
On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters – mostly elderly – braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant’s entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast.
“It’s Tokyo’s electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense,” Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old resident, said.
Around 60% of residents opposed the restart, while 37% support it, according to a survey conducted in September.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven restarted yesterday.
The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a huge earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.
However, resource-poor Japan now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source.
Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operation since the post-Fukushima shutdown under strict safety rules, with 13 running as of mid-January. — AFP
