Japan to Reactivate Worlds Largest Nuclear Power Plant After 15-Year Downtime

TEPCO Announces Restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) has confirmed that it will proceed with preparations to restart operations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata province. The plant, which is set to resume operation on Wednesday at 7pm local time, will initially start up one reactor out of its seven operational units.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant spans approximately 4.2 square kilometers and has a total capacity of 8.2 gigawatts, enough to power millions of households. The facility is situated on the coast of the Japan Sea and has been fitted with safety upgrades, including a 15-meter-high tsunami wall.

The restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant marks the 15th nuclear power plant to be restarted out of 33 that remain operational in Japan. Following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, which led to a nationwide shutdown of reactors, Japan has shifted its focus back to nuclear power as part of efforts to strengthen energy security and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.

A petition signed by nearly 40,000 people has expressed concerns over the risk of seismic activity in the vicinity of the plant. The document notes that the facility sits on an active seismic fault zone and was struck by a strong earthquake in 2007. TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa stated that safety is an ongoing process, emphasizing the importance of operators being vigilant and avoiding arrogance or overconfidence.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s restart comes as Japan’s nuclear industry faces recent scandals and incidents, including data falsification by Chubu Electric Power. The government has recently announced a new state funding scheme to accelerate its nuclear power comeback.

Source: Al Jazeera