Local assembly approves despite significant resident opposition and protests.
The plant is operated by TEPCO, the utility responsible for Fukushima.
Restart is driven by economic pressures and goals for energy security.
The move highlights a deep national divide over nuclear power's future.
Nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster reshaped Japan’s energy landscape and shattered public trust, the country is poised to restart the world's largest nuclear power station. On December 22, the regional assembly in Niigata prefecture delivered a crucial vote of confidence in Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, effectively removing the final political barrier for the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. This pivotal decision allows plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the same utility that ran Fukushima, to immediately begin the process of bringing the long-dormant facility back online, marking a profound shift in national policy driven by economic and energy security demands.
The move is a watershed moment in Japan's fraught return to nuclear energy. Following the 2011 catastrophe, all 54 of the nation's reactors were gradually taken offline. Japan has since restarted 14 of the 33 reactors deemed operable, but Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the first to resume under TEPCO's management. The facility, located about 136 miles northwest of Tokyo, boasts a total capacity of 8.2 gigawatts, enough to power several million homes. Its revival is central to government plans to reduce a costly dependence on imported fossil fuels....<<<Read More>>>....
