Japan’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the largest in the world by potential capacity, is set to restart on Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, despite persistent safety concerns among local residents.
The facility, located in Niigata prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, received its final approval after the provincial governor cleared its resumption last month, even as public opinion in the area remains deeply divided. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which operates the plant, said it was moving ahead with preparations following the final green light.
“We are proceeding with preparations and plan to remove the control rods after 7:00pm today and start up the reactor,” the company said in a statement. Only one of the plant’s seven reactors is scheduled to resume operations at this stage.
On Tuesday, a small group of protesters gathered outside the plant’s entrance, braving freezing temperatures and snowfall to voice their opposition. Many of them were elderly residents from nearby communities.
“It’s Tokyo’s electricity that is produced in Kashiwazaki, so why should the people here be put at risk? That makes no sense,” said Yumiko Abe, a 73-year-old local resident.
According to a survey conducted in September, about 60% of residents oppose the restart, while 37% support it.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex was shut down in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, also operated by TEPCO. The disaster led Japan to suspend nuclear power nationwide amid widespread public distrust of the industry.
Nearly 15 years on, resource-poor Japan is seeking to revive nuclear energy as part of efforts to cut its dependence on imported fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet rising electricity demand, including from data centres and artificial intelligence technologies. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has publicly backed nuclear power as a key part of the country’s energy mix.
Fourteen reactors, mostly in western and southern Japan, have been restarted under stricter post-Fukushima safety regulations, with 13 in operation as of mid-January. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa unit will be the first TEPCO-run reactor to restart since 2011, even as the company continues the decades-long decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi.
For critics, that legacy remains a major concern. “The situation is still not under control in Fukushima, and TEPCO wants to revive a plant? For me, that’s absolutely unacceptable,” said Keisuke Abe, an 81-year-old demonstrator.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa site has undergone extensive safety upgrades, including the construction of a 15-metre-high tsunami wall and the installation of elevated emergency power systems. However, residents and campaigners argue that risks remain, pointing to past scandals, minor incidents and what they say are unrealistic evacuation plans.
“I think it’s impossible to evacuate in an emergency,” said Chie Takakuwa, a 79-year-old resident of Kariwa village.
Earlier this month, seven anti-nuclear groups submitted a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people to TEPCO and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority. The petition warned that the plant sits near an active seismic fault and recalled that it was struck by a powerful earthquake in 2007.
“We can’t remove the fear of being hit by another unforeseen earthquake,” the petition said, adding that “making many people anxious and fearful so as to send electricity to Tokyo is intolerable”.
Before the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power accounted for about one-third of Japan’s electricity generation. In 2023, nearly 70% of the country’s power came from coal, gas and oil, a share the government aims to cut to 30–40% over the next 15 years as it expands renewables and nuclear energy.
Under a government-approved plan unveiled in February, nuclear power is expected to supply around 20% of Japan’s electricity by 2040, up from about 8.5% in the 2023–24 fiscal year. Japan remains the world’s fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, behind China, the United States, India and Russia.
The nuclear industry has also faced renewed scrutiny in recent weeks, including a case in which Chubu Electric Power was found to have falsified data to downplay seismic risks. At Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, TEPCO said an alarm system failed during a test last weekend.
“Safety is an ongoing process, which means operators involved in nuclear power must never be arrogant or overconfident,” TEPCO president Tomoaki Kobayakawa told the Asahi Shimbun.
As Japan presses ahead with its nuclear revival, the shadow of Fukushima continues to loom large, with the cleanup of the stricken plant expected to take decades to complete.
