In a surprising turn of events, Japan has halted operations at the world's largest nuclear power facility just hours after it was brought back online. This significant development has been confirmed by the operator of the plant.
An alarm was triggered during the startup procedures for the reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, located near Tokyo. However, according to Takashi Kobayashi, a spokesperson for Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the reactor has remained stable throughout this incident.
Reactor number six had restarted on Wednesday—slightly delayed from its original schedule due to an alarm malfunction—marking it as the first reactor to be activated since the catastrophic Fukushima disaster that occurred in 2011. This disaster was set off by a massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake, which led to one of the most severe nuclear crises ever recorded.
Following the Fukushima incident, Japan took the drastic step of shutting down all of its 54 reactors. The radiation leak from Fukushima forced over 150,000 individuals to evacuate their homes, many of whom have yet to return despite government assurances of safety.
After the recent suspension of reactor number six, Kobayashi reassured the public that the situation is stable and there are no radioactive threats to the surrounding areas. Initially, this reactor was slated to begin operations on Tuesday, but technical difficulties delayed its launch until Wednesday. It is expected to commence commercial operations next month.
Kobayashi indicated that Tepco is currently investigating the cause of the alarm but did not provide a timeline for when operations might resume. Meanwhile, the seventh reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is not anticipated to be restarted until 2030, and there are discussions about decommissioning the other five reactors, which would significantly reduce the plant’s operational capacity compared to when all seven were active.
Despite safety apprehensions voiced by local residents, reactor number six received approval to restart. Just last week, a small group gathered outside Tepco's headquarters to express their opposition, while hundreds protested outside the Niigata prefectural assembly in December.
Before the Fukushima disaster, Japan was a pioneer in nuclear energy, with almost 30% of its electricity generated from nuclear power and plans to boost that figure to 50% by 2030. Since being forced to shut down all its reactors in the aftermath of the disaster, the nation has spent the last decade working towards revitalizing its nuclear plants as part of its broader strategy to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. As of now, Japan has brought 15 out of its 33 operable reactors back online since 2015.
