Tokyo Electric Power will restart part of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant on January 20, its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
TOKYO: Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) plans to restart the first unit of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on January 20.
TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa confirmed the date, marking the company’s first nuclear restart since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi meltdown.
The Niigata prefecture assembly, where the plant is located, gave its approval for the partial restart this week.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s largest nuclear power station and was among 54 reactors shut down after the 2011 disaster.
“As the company responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi accident, we will apply the reflections and lessons learned,” Kobayakawa said.
He added that the company would proceed with the restart, its first in 14 years, with safety as the top priority.
Japan has now restarted 14 of its 33 operable reactors as it seeks to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels.
The government aims to double nuclear power’s share in the national energy mix.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has a total capacity of 8.2 gigawatts, enough to power millions of homes.
The pending restart will bring one 1.36 GW unit online, with another unit of the same capacity scheduled for restart around 2030.
TEPCO has indicated it may decommission some of the plant’s remaining five units.
