Japan restarts world’s largest nuclear power plant

Nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster forced the country to shut down all its nuclear reactors, Japan has restarted reactors at the world’s largest nuclear power plant.

Reactor No. 6 at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant northwest of Tokyo restarted on Wednesday. Commercial operations are expected to begin next month after a one-day delay due to an alarm malfunction.

This is the latest progress in Japan’s nuclear power restart, and there is still a long way to go. The seventh reactor is not expected to return to service until 2030, and the remaining five reactors may be decommissioned. That leaves the plant with far less capacity than when all seven reactors were operating: 8.2 gigawatts.

Japan, which has always relied heavily on energy imports, was an early adopter of nuclear power. But those ambitions were dashed in 2011 by what is now known as one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Triggered by Japan’s strongest earthquake on record, a reactor meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant caused a radioactive leak. It has traumatized local communities that were evacuated, with many yet to return despite official assurances it was safe to evacuate.

Critics say the plant’s owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company, was unprepared and that its response was not well coordinated with the government’s. An independent government report called it a “man-made disaster” and blamed TEPCO, although a court later cleared three executives of negligence.

Still, fear and a lack of trust fueled public opposition to nuclear power, and Japan suspended its entire fleet of 54 reactors shortly after the Fukushima disaster.

It has been trying to wake up these power plants for the past decade. Since 2015, the country has restarted 15 of its 33 operational reactors. The Kashiwazaki Kariwa Plant is the first TEPCO plant to resume operations.

Before 2011, nuclear power accounted for nearly 30% of Japan’s electricity, and the country plans to increase this share to 50% by 2030. Last year’s energy plan unveiled a more modest target: it hopes nuclear power can meet 20% of its electricity needs by 2040.

Even this can be tricky.

Global momentum around nuclear energy is building, with the International Atomic Energy Agency estimating that the world’s nuclear power capacity could more than double by 2050. As of 2023, nuclear power in Japan will account for only 8.5% of electricity.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae, who took office in October, has emphasized the importance of nuclear power to Japan’s energy self-sufficiency. Especially since it expects energy demand to surge due to data centers and semiconductor manufacturing.

But the cost of operating nuclear reactors has soared as new safety inspections require significant investments from companies trying to restart nuclear power plants.

“The cost of nuclear power is much higher than they thought,” Koppenberg said.

The government could subsidize the costs or pass them on to consumers — both unpalatable options for Japan’s leaders, who have for decades praised the affordability of nuclear power. Expensive energy bills could also hurt the government as households protest rising costs.

Koppenberg said the government “has its hands tied when it comes to supporting nuclear power financially unless it is willing to betray one of its main selling points”.

“I think (Japan’s nuclear power resurgence) is just a slap in the face because it doesn’t change the overall picture of Japan’s nuclear power decline.”

In addition to fears of another Fukushima-like disaster, a series of scandals have shaken public trust.

The Kashiwazaki Kariha Factory was particularly involved. In 2023, an employee placed a stack of documents on the roof of his car but forgot to put it there before driving away, and it was lost. In November, another person was found to have mishandled classified documents.

A TEPCO spokesman said the company had reported the incidents to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA), adding that the company aimed to continue improving safety management.

Koppenberg said the disclosures were “a good sign” for transparency. But they also revealed that “TEPCO is working to change the way it achieves safety (and)”.

Earlier this month, the U.S. regulatory agency suspended a review of the restart of nuclear reactors at Chubu Electric Power Co.’s Hamaoka plant in central Japan after it was discovered that the reactor had manipulated seismic data during testing. “We will continue to respond in good faith and to the fullest possible extent to the NRA’s direction and guidance,” the company apologized.

Ney, a former nuclear official, said that while he was “surprised” by the scandal at Hamaoka, he believed harsh penalties for its operators should deter other companies from doing the same.

“Power companies should realize the importance of not (falsifying data),” he said, adding that authorities would “reject and punish” offending companies.

What happened at Fukushima turned Japanese public opinion against what was touted as an affordable and sustainable form of energy.

A Pew Research Center survey showed that in the weeks after the March 2011 disaster, 44 percent of Japanese believed the use of nuclear power should be reduced. By 2012, that number jumped to 70%.

Thousands of residents have since filed a class-action lawsuit against TEPCO and the Japanese government, seeking compensation for property damage, mental distress and health problems allegedly linked to radiation exposure.

In 2023, Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant releases treated radioactive water Stirring anxiety and anger at home and abroad.

Today, many people still oppose restarting nuclear power plants. In December, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Niigata Prefectural Assembly, where Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is located, to express concerns about safety.

“If something happens to the factory, we will suffer the consequences,” one protester told Reuters.

Last week, a small group gathered again in front of TEPCO headquarters to protest ahead of the restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, nuclear safety standards were improved. The NRA is a cabinet agency established in 2012 and currently oversees the restart of the country’s nuclear power plants.

At Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, a 15-meter-high (49-foot) seawall was built to protect against large tsunamis; watertight doors now protect the facility’s critical equipment.

“Under the new safety standards, (Japan’s nuclear power plants) can survive even an earthquake and tsunami similar to the one in 2011,” Hisanori Nei, an adjunct professor at the Institute for National Policy Research in Tokyo and a former senior nuclear safety official, told the BBC.

But what worries Dr. Florentine Koppenborg, a senior researcher at the Technical University of Munich, is that “they are preparing for the worst scenarios they have seen in the past, but not for what is coming.”

Some experts worry that these policies do not include enough planning to deal with rising sea levels caused by climate change, or the once-in-a-century earthquake that Japan has been anticipating.

“Japan is well prepared if the events of the past repeat themselves,” Koppenberg said. “If something unexpected does happen and a larger tsunami occurs than expected, we don’t know.”