TEPCO restarts Unit 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa as Japan revives nuclear power

Tokyo Electric Power restarted Unit 6 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear complex in Niigata Prefecture on Wednesday, the first reactor to resume operation at the site. The restart was delayed by a day after a safety alarm failed to sound during a test, the company said. Unit 6, at one of the world’s largest nuclear facilities, generates enough electricity to supply more than one million homes and will primarily serve the Tokyo metropolitan area.

The restart is part of a wider push to revive reactors mothballed after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster as Japan seeks more carbon-free, round-the-clock power; before 2011 nuclear provided about 30 percent of the country’s electricity, and the government aims for about 20 percent by 2030, up from less than 10 percent today.

Locally, reactions were mixed. Evacuee Ayako Oga, who left Fukushima after the 2011 meltdowns and later settled in Niigata, said the restart renewed a “life of constant daily vigilance” and that she was “terrified.” Niigata officials and residents pressed TEPCO and the central government for infrastructure upgrades; some road and shelter projects remained unfinished even as the plant resumed operations.

A prefectural survey found about 60 percent of residents did not believe restart conditions were in place and roughly 70 percent expressed concerns about TEPCO’s management. The prefectural assembly voted to approve a petition supporting the restart and Gov.

Key Topics

Business, Tepco, Kashiwazaki-kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, Fukushima Daiichi, Nuclear Power