Japan restarts first nuclear power plant since Fukushima

In this monitor image released to the media, workers restarting the No. 1 reactor at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture are seen in the plant’s central control room, shortly after 10:30 a.m. on August. 11, 2015.

Commercial operations are to begin early next month, a company spokesman said.

“Most locals say they can not flee when there’s a nuclear accident because of poor roads and a lack of bridges”, said Yoshiharu Ogawa (right), 70, an anti-nuclear protestor. “And certainly not all the necessary precautions for such accidents have been taken here”, Kan said.

Safety officials have stressed that any switched-on reactor would operate under much tighter regulations than those that existed before Fukushima, the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

The new safety guidelines include mandatory backup power, a lesson learned from Fukushima, where the tsunami knocked out the cooling system inside the reactor and triggered multiple meltdowns. Japan invested heavily in its nuclear power program and many communities rely on tax revenues and jobs associated with the plants.

“These new standards that the Abe government has got the nuclear regulatory agency to agree upon, have just slightly raised the bar with regards to earthquakes and tsunamis, but in fact they are full of holes”, said one male demonstrator. “The very first reactor that Japan is set to restart under new regulations is 32 years old”, Takagi said.

“It would be impossible to achieve all these three things simultaneously – keep nuclear plants offline, while also trying to curb carbon dioxide and maintain the same electricity cost”.

Local residents held demonstrations outside the Sendai plant and at the Prime Minister’s residence in Tokyo Tuesday.

Japan plans to have nuclear power account for 20% to 22% of its total electricity supply in 2030, compared with roughly 30% before the Fukushima disaster.

However, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the plant to show their opposition to Japan’s return to nuclear energy.

After months of debate about safety, the No 1 reactor at the 30-year-old Sendai nuclear power plant, on the southwest island of Kyushu, became the first to be brought back to life on Tuesday morning. On Tuesday, he stood shouting outside the gates of the Sendai plant, along with about 300 other protesters. All other nuclear plants have remained offline since they were idled for regular maintenance in the wake of the 2011 Tepco plant meltdowns.

Japan has been working to reshape its energy sector since the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima Daicchi nuclear reactor by focusing on energy efficiency, conservation and an increased use of cleaner-burning natural gas to help keep emissions in check.

Question: How important was nuclear power for Japan’s electricity mix and how did it make up for the loss?

Some 25 reactors at 15 plant sites units are also awaiting the NRA’s safety approval decision.

All of the country’s 43 reactors are undergoing safety checks, but energy bosses have applied to restart 23 of them.

But since the shutdown of reactors, the country’s nine energy companies have had to buy expensive fossil fuels to cover the shortfall.