Japan takes final step to restart large nuclear plantReuters, NIIGATA, JapanJapan yesterday took the final step to allow the world’s largest nuclear power plant to resume operations with a regional vote, a watershed moment in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, about 220km northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Protesters take part in a rally near the Niigata Prefectural Government Office Building in Niigata, Japan, yesterday, before a vote on the partial restart of the Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant. Photo: ReutersKashiwazaki-Kariwa is to be the first restarted plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which ran the doomed Fukushima plant. “There is no end in terms of ensuring the safety of Niigata residents.”A woman swims in the water near the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, one of the world’s largest nuclear facilities, in Kashiwazaki, Japan, on Sunday.

Source: Taipei Times December 22, 2025 16:35 UTC