News Japan to restart the world’s largest nuclear power plant in Kashiwazaki

[thomas]

Japanese regulators have approved the restart of the world's largest nuclear power plant, which has been shut down for more than a decade since the Fukushima disaster. Japan seeks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels. In Niigata Prefecture, where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is located, the prefectural assembly approved legislation on Monday allowing Tokyo Electric Power Company to proceed with plans to bring one of the facility's seven reactors back into operation, despite lingering concerns among residents. The utility is aiming to restart the No. 6 reactor around 20 January.

TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant in Kashiwazaki, Niigata (via Asahi).

Before the Fukushima disaster, Japan's nuclear reactors had provided around 30% of the country's electricity. Since then, Japan has increased its reliance on costly imported fossil fuels, including coal and gas, to power the country and keep the lights on. About 60–70% of Japan's power generation comes from imported fossil fuels, which cost the government about 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year alone. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who took office two months ago, is a strong proponent of nuclear power and has pushed to revive the crippled industry to drive down costs, tackle inflation and a stagnant economy. Japan is the world's fifth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, after China, the United States, India and Russia, according to the International Energy Agency. But it has committed to reaching net zero emissions by 2050, and renewable energy was at the centre of its latest energy plan published earlier this year, with a push for greater investments in solar and wind.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/12/22/asia/japan-nuclear-reactor-restart-kashiwazaki-kariwa-intl-hnk

Critics also point to a survey conducted by the prefecture that found that 60% of residents said "conditions are not right for restarting" the reactors. "There is strong distrust among residents of the prefecture and the Japanese public in general towards TEPCO, which they hold responsible for the Fukushima disaster," said Takeshi Sakagami, of the Citizens' Association for Monitoring Nuclear Regulation. Despite the assurances of the operator and the local government, Sakagami has several concerns, ranging from lax internal security to fears that any disaster management plan will be inadequate in the event of another major earthquake.

Japan: TEPCO's nuclear restart plan sparks angst

Japan wants to boost nuclear power generation to slash its reliance on imported fossil fuels. The public is torn between energy needs and security risks.

www.dw.com

TEPCO eyes 1st post-Fukushima reactor restart in Jan. as local gives OK - The Mainichi

NIIGATA, Japan (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. on Monday completed the process to obtain local consent for restarting a nuclear

mainichi.jp

 

[johnnyG]

About 60–70% of Japan's power generation comes from imported fossil fuels, which cost the government about 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year alone.

Isn't it that it costs us--the users of electricity--that much? And not the government?

 

[mdchachi]

Isn't it that it costs us--the users of electricity--that much? And not the government?

Good point. Though the government is a user also. Is this their share? Or the total?

 

[thomas]

That didn't go well.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. on 22 January halted the restart of the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant only hours after operations resumed, after an alarm sounded during the withdrawal of control rods. The reactor, brought online for the first time in 14 years, began its start-up sequence at 7:02 p.m. on 21 January and reached criticality—sustained nuclear fission—by 8:28 p.m. An alarm was triggered at about 12:28 a.m. the following day while a third set of control rods was being removed.

TEPCO said the process calls for withdrawing 205 rods in groups of 26. The utility suspects a fault in the control rod operating system; a component was replaced, but the issue continued.

Alarm halts Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant restart | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

TEPCO's just-restarted nuclear plant to suspend operations: operator - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Thursday that it will shut down a reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power pla

mainichi.jp

 

[johnnyG]

The reactor, brought online for the first time in 14 years, ...

So it's an experiment. I wonder what kind of ongoing attention and maintenance there was over that period--and was it done for simply for preserving the safety of a shut down reactor, or for a restart like this. Even if both, it's an experiment to see if they got it right.

I also wonder what was the initial projected lifespan of these (and I know that they're often re-certified for another 10 or 20yrs or more after that, I'm just wondering).

The article doesn't mention the other reactors there, timelines for those, similar problems or not, and so on.

 

[Petaris]

Considering that TEPCO's track record for maintenance, especially expensive maintenance, is not great I would guess that if any was done over those 14 years that it was likely the bare minimum they thought they could get away with or that the government forced them to do.