Japan restarts first nuclear reactor since Fukushima disaster

Nevertheless, opinion polls show a majority of the Japanese public oppose the return to nuclear energy.

The start-up of the Sendai No. 1 reactor came two days after the nation hosted a peace rally to coincide with the 70 anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the final operation the United States took against Imperial Japan before V-J Day.

The decision has triggered large demonstrations outside the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Kagoshima Prefecture on Tuesday, demanding a stop to reactivating the reactors.

All nuclear power plants in Japan were gradually turned off after a series of meltdowns at Fukushima caused by the powerful natural disaster and resulting tsunami in 2011.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made the restart of the country’s nuclear energy industry a priority of his administration, with the hiatus sending electricity bills soaring, providing a drag on his so-called Abenomics reforms, and serving to highlight Japan’s dependence on energy imports.

The disaster saw the evacuation of 160,000 people and the closure of all the country’s 48 working reactors for safety checks.

The prospects for other idled reactors are also unclear as the regulator’s safety review process based on the post-Fukushima regulations – a prerequisite for a restart – is taking much longer than expected.

Answer: Nuclear power accounted for a quarter of Japan’s electricity production before the Fukushima crisis.

The reactor has been kept offline since March 2011, when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was severely damaged by a major quake and tsunami.

But at the same time his administration has been promoting the reactivation of suspended commercial reactors, citing the huge cost of importing fossil fuels for thermal power plants.

Anti-nuclear sentiment still runs high in Japan and there were reports Tuesday of protesters scuffling with police in front of the Sendai plant, which is on the southernmost main island of Kyushu.

While the Oi Nuclear Power Plant was briefly brought back online to solve a power shortage in 2012, Sendai is the only reactor in the country that has been restarted on a permanent basis having passed the new regulations.

What is the State of Japan’s Nuclear Reactors?

“It is important to restart reactors one by one from the perspective of energy security, the economy and measures against global warming, but safety always comes first”, Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa told reporters.

“Accidents are unpredictable, that’s why they happen”.

He told fellow protesters that it had been “completely proven … that nuclear energy is the most expensive and most risky”, adding: “Why is Kyushu Electric restarting the reactor at Sendai?”

Power Magazine marks the restart of the 890-MW Sendai-1 as a milestone for Japan’s nuclear sector.