{"id":13590,"date":"2026-01-19T02:26:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=13590"},"modified":"2026-01-19T02:26:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T02:26:14","slug":"15-years-after-fukushima-japan-prepares-to-restart-the-worlds-biggest-nuclear-plant-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=13590","title":{"rendered":"15 years after Fukushima, Japan prepares to restart the world\u2019s biggest nuclear plant | Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"

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T<\/span>he activity around the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant is reaching its peak: workers remove earth to expand the width of a main road, while lorries arrive at its heavily guarded entrance. A long perimeter fence is lined with countless coils of razor wire, and in a layby, a police patrol car monitors visitors to the beach \u2013 one of the few locations with a clear view of the reactors, framed by a snowy Mount Yoneyama.<\/p>\n

When all seven of its reactors are working, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa generates 8.2 gigawatts of electricity, enough to power millions of households. Occupying 4.2 sq km of land in Niigata prefecture on the Japan<\/a> Sea coast, it is the biggest nuclear power plant in the world.<\/p>\n

Since 2012, however, the plant has not generated a single watt of electricity, after being shut down, along with dozens of other reactors, in the wake of the March 2011 triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi<\/a>, the world\u2019s worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl.<\/p>\n

Located about 220km (136 miles) north-west of Tokyo, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is run by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the same utility in charge of the Fukushima facility when a powerful tsunami crashed through its defences, triggering a power outage that sent three of its reactors into meltdown and forcing 160,000 people to evacuate.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.<\/span> Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Weeks before the 15th anniversary of the accident, and the wider tsunami disaster that killed an estimated 20,000 people along Japan\u2019s north-east coast, Tepco is set to defy local public opinion and restart one of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa\u2019s seven reactors, possibly as soon as Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Restarting reactor No 6, which could boost the electricity supply to the Tokyo area by about 2%, will be a milestone in Japan\u2019s slow return to nuclear energy, a strategy its government says will help the country reach its emissions targets and strengthen its energy security.<\/p>\n

But for many of the 420,000 people living within a 30km (19-mile) radius of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa who would have to evacuate in the event of a Fukushima-style incident, Tepco\u2019s imminent return to nuclear power generation is fraught with danger.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Ryusuke Yoshida: \u2018The evacuation plans are obviously ineffective.\u2019<\/span> Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They include Ryusuke Yoshida, whose home is less than a mile and a half from the plant in the sleepy village of Kariwa. Asked what worries him most about the restart, the 76-year-old has a simple answer. \u201cEverything,\u201d he says, as waves crash on to the shore, the reactors looming in the background.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evacuation plans are obviously ineffective,\u201d adds Yoshida, a potter and member of an association of people living closest to the facility. \u201cWhen it snows in winter the roads are blocked, and a lot of people who live here are old. What about them, and other people who can\u2019t move freely? This is a human rights issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Location map<\/a><\/figure>\n

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The utility company says it has learned the lessons of the Fukushima Daiichi accident, and earlier this year pledged to invest 100 bn yen (\u00a3470m) into Niigata prefecture over the next 10 years in an attempt to win over residents.<\/p>\n

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, whose 6,000 staff have remained on duty throughout the long shutdown, has seawalls and watertight doors to provide stronger protection against a tsunami, while mobile diesel-powered generators and a large fleet of fire engines are ready to provide water to cool reactors in an emergency. Upgraded filtering systems have been installed to control the spread of radioactive materials.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe core of the nuclear power business is ensuring safety above all else, and the understanding of local residents is a prerequisite,\u201d says Tatsuya Matoba, a Tepco spokesperson.<\/p>\n

That is the one hurdle residents say Tepco has failed to overcome after local authorities ignored calls for a prefectural referendum to determine the plant\u2019s future. In the absence of a vote, anti-restart campaigners point to surveys showing clear opposition to putting the reactor back online.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>A sign urges residents to evacuate to a nearby golf course or temple in the event of a tsunami.<\/span> Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They include a prefectural government poll conducted late last year in which more than 60% of people living within 30km of the plant said they did not believe the conditions for restarting the facility had been met.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take the results of the prefectural opinion survey very seriously,\u201d Matoba adds. \u201cGaining understanding and trust from local residents is an ongoing process with no end point, that requires sincerity and continuous effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kazuyuki Takemoto, a member of the Kariwa village council, says seismic activity in this region of north-west Japan means it is impossible to guarantee the plant\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there has been no proper discussion of that,\u201d says Takemoto, 76. \u201cThey say that safety improvements have been made since the Fukushima disaster, but I don\u2019t think there is any valid reason to restart the reactor. It\u2019s beyond my comprehension.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Kazuyuki Takemoto, a member of the Kariwa village council, opposes the reactor restart. \u2018It used to be said that nuclear power was necessary, safe and cheap \u2026 We now know that was an illusion.\u2019<\/span> Photograph: Justin McCurry\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018The priority should be to protect people\u2019s lives\u2019<\/h2>\n

Just weeks before the planned restart, the nuclear industry attracted fresh criticism after it emerged that Chubu Electric Power, a utility in central Japan, had fabricated seismic risk data<\/a> during a regulatory review, conducted before a possible restart, of two reactors at its idle Hamaoka plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at what\u2019s happened with Hamaoka, do you seriously think it\u2019s possible to trust Japan\u2019s nuclear industry?\u201d Takemoto says. \u201cIt used to be said that nuclear power was necessary, safe and cheap \u2026 We now know that was an illusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adding to local concerns are the presence of seismic faults in and around the site, which sustained damage during a 6.8-magnitude offshore earthquake in July 2007, including a fire that broke out in a transformer. Three reactors that were in operation at the time shut down automatically.<\/p>\n

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa restart is a gamble for Japan\u2019s government, which has put an ambitious return to nuclear power generation at the centre of its new energy policy as it struggles to reach its emissions targets and bolster its energy security.<\/p>\n

Before the Fukushima disaster, 54 reactors were in operation, supplying about 30% of the country\u2019s power. Now, of 33 operable reactors, just 14 are in service, while attempts to restart others have faced strong local opposition.<\/p>\n

Now, 15 years after the Fukushima meltdown, criticism of the country\u2019s \u201cnuclear village\u201d of operators, regulators and politicians has shifted to this snowy coastal town.<\/p>\n

Pointing out one of the many security cameras near the plant, Yoshida says the restart has been forced on residents by the nuclear industry and its political allies. \u201cThe local authorities have folded in the face of immense pressure from the central government,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priority of any government should be to protect people\u2019s lives, but we feel like we have been deceived. Japan\u2019s nuclear village is alive and well. You only have to look at what\u2019s happening here to know that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#years #Fukushima #Japan #prepares #restart #worlds #biggest #nuclear #plant #Japan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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