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<\/p>\nThe world’s biggest nuclear power plant has been restarted for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, its Japanese operator confirmed, despite persistent safety concerns among residents.<\/p>\n
The plant was “started at 19:02” local time, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) spokesman Tatsuya Matoba told AFP of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture.<\/p>\n
The regional governor approved the resumption last month, although public opinion remains sharply divided.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, a few dozen protesters braved freezing temperatures to demonstrate in the snow near the plant’s entrance, whose buildings line the Sea of Japan coast.<\/p>\n
“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, told AFP.<\/p>\n
Around 60 per cent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 per cent support it, according to a survey conducted in September.<\/p>\n
TEPCO said on Wednesday it would “proceed with careful verification of each plant facility’s integrity” and address any issues appropriately and transparently.<\/p>\n
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s biggest nuclear power plant by potential capacity, although just one reactor of seven was restarted.<\/p>\n
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Operators carry out reactor startup operations in the central control room of Unit 6 at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s plant on Wednesday. (Kyodo\/via Reuters)<\/p>\n
The facility was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has voiced support for the energy source.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first TEPCO-run unit to restart since 2011. The company also operates the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant, now being decommissioned.<\/p>\n
Nearly 15 years after the disaster, “the situation is still not under control in Fukushima, and TEPCO wants to revive a plant? For me, that’s absolutely unacceptable”, said Keisuke Abe, an 81-year-old demonstrator.<\/p>\n
Residents ‘anxious and fearful’<\/p>\n
The vast Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has been fitted with a 15-metre-high tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems and other safety upgrades.<\/p>\n
However, residents raised concerns about the risk of a serious accident, citing frequent cover-up scandals, minor accidents and evacuation plans they say are inadequate.<\/p>\n
“I think it’s impossible to evacuate in an emergency,” Chie Takakuwa, a 79-year-old resident of Kariwa, told AFP.<\/p>\n
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A small group of protesters took to the streets to voice conerns about the restart this week. (Kyodo\/via Reuters)<\/p>\n
On January 8, seven groups opposing the restart submitted a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people to TEPCO and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority.<\/p>\n
The petition said the plant sits on an active seismic fault zone and noted it was struck by a strong quake in 2007.<\/p>\n
“We can’t remove the fear of being hit by another unforeseen earthquake,” it said.<\/p>\n
“Making many people anxious and fearful so as to send electricity to Tokyo \u2026 is intolerable.”<\/p>\n
Before the 2011 disaster, which killed around 18,000 people, nuclear power generated about a third of Japan’s electricity.<\/p>\n
History of nuclear scandals<\/p>\n
Japan’s nuclear industry has also faced a string of scandals and incidents in recent weeks, including data falsification by Chubu Electric Power to underestimate seismic risks.<\/p>\n
At Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, TEPCO said Saturday that an alarm system failed during a test.<\/p>\n