Japan set to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant

TLE DESK: Japan is poised to approve the restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant later this week, according to local media, marking a major step in the country’s return to atomic energy after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Kyodo News and the Nikkei business daily reported Wednesday that the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant is expected to receive the nod from Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, who is likely to announce his decision at a press conference on Friday. The reports cited unnamed government and industry sources.

Japan, which remains heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels, has been pushing to revive nuclear power to enhance energy security and meet its climate goals. Nuclear energy is central to Tokyo’s plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Of the plant’s seven reactors, only one is slated to restart in the initial phase.

Following the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan shut down all of its nuclear reactors amid a public backlash against the sector. Since then, 14 reactors—mostly in the country’s western and southern regions—have resumed operations under stricter safety regulations.

If approved, this would be the first restart for Fukushima operator Tepco since the disaster, representing a symbolic milestone for the utility.

Japan continues to grapple with the decades-long task of decommissioning the Fukushima plant. The effort remains fraught with technical challenges due to dangerously high radiation levels. In August, engineers deployed remote-controlled robots inside one of the damaged reactor buildings to prepare for the removal of melted fuel and radioactive debris—widely considered the most difficult phase of the cleanup.

Meanwhile, in July, Kansai Electric said it had begun preliminary steps toward building Japan’s first new nuclear reactor since the Fukushima tragedy, underscoring the government’s renewed commitment to nuclear power.