Japan yesterday restarted a second nuclear reactor after a shutdown triggered by the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi crisis, as Tokyo pushes to return to a cheaper energy source, despite widespread public opposition.
Kyushu Electric Power said it restarted the No. 2 reactor at Sendai, about 1,000km southwest of Tokyo at 10:30am.
The same power plant’s No. 1 reactor was restarted in August, ending a two-year nuclear power hiatus. Engineers will now spend several days bringing the newly restarted reactor up to operational level before running it commercially from next month.
The restart comes more than four years after a quake-sparked tsunami swamped cooling systems and triggered reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, prompting the shutdown of Japan’s 50 reactors and starting a pitched battle over the future use of atomic power.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed for a restart, saying that atomic energy is necessary to power the world’s third-biggest economy.
However, the public is largely opposed to atomic energy after the Fukushima Dai-ichi crisis sent radiation over a wide area and forced tens of thousands from their homes — many of whom will likely never return — in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
The government will continue to restart reactors that are deemed safe under the nation’s standards, upgraded since the accident in 2011, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said.
“There is no change to this policy of the government,” Suga told a press conference.
About 70 people gathered in front of the Sendai plant to protest the latest reactor restart, according to public broadcaster NHK.
“Many people are still concerned about the restart of nuclear power plants,” Ryoko Torihara, head of the citizen group against the Sendai nuclear plant, told NHK.
Environmental campaign group Greenpeace criticized “the Abe government’s disregard for public safety,” and said that Japan has demonstrated that it does not need nuclear power.
“Nuclear energy will not make any significant contribution to Japan’s energy mix — not now or in the foreseeable future,” Greenpeace Japan energy campaigner Mamoru Sekiguchi said.
“Rather than risking the safety of Japanese citizens for a dangerous and outdated energy source, the Japanese government should be creating policies that support the transition to safe, clean renewable energy,” he said.
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