Japan restarts first nuclear power plant under new rule since Fukushima tragedy

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.

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.

The restart is a major boost for the policy of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who argues that nuclear power is necessary for lowering electricity prices and shoring up the economy.

This is the first plant to start its operations under the new safety requirements, which were introduced after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

“A disaster like that at Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will not occur”, under the new rules, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) chairman Shunichi Tanaka said in an interview with the Nikkei newspaper published at the weekend.

The Japanese government has sought to reactivate nuclear reactors that have obtained safety clearance from the regulator, despite the majority of the public being opposed to it in media polls.

An April court injunction prohibited Kansai Electric Power from resuming operations of the two units at Takahama due to safety problems.

Residents near the Sendai plant are wary of the restarts, citing potential dangers from active volcanos in the region.

This will come from more than 40 existing reactors, although some of them may never restart because they are too old or because of opposition from local communities.

He said the Fukushima disaster had “exposed the myth of safe and cheap nuclear power, which turned out to be unsafe and expensive”.

More than four years since the world’s worst nuclear disaster following the 1986 Chernobyl accident, some areas near the radiation-leaking plant remain uninhabitable, with more than 110,000 people still living as evacuees in and outside Fukushima Prefecture. Of those, 23 others, including the second Sendai reactor, have applied for safety inspections and restart approvals.

Removal of melted fuel from the three reactors – the most challenging part of the 30- to 40-year cleanup – will not begin until 2022. Kyushu Electric Power Co. restarted the No. 1 reactor. The plans call for the 2nd reactor to be restarted in October. “Accepting them as permanently closed would have financial implications that would be hard to manage”, said Tomas Kaberger, chairman of the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation.

Opponents of the restarts and nuclear experts are concerned about possible glitches in mothballed reactors that have not been used for more than four years and that evacuation plans may not work well.