Niigata : Japan completed the last stage to permit the world’s largest nuclear power plant to resume operations with a regional vote on Monday, marking a stage in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220 km (136 miles) northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
Since then, Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 operable reactors, as part of its efforts to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which ran the Fukushima plant.
TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20.
