Japan restart world's biggest nuclear plant Now

Japan prepares to restart world's biggest nuclear plant Now

RELUCTANT RESIDENTS WARY OF RESTART

In NIIGATA:
Japan took the final step to allow the restart the world's largest nuclear power plant on Monday as the region of Niigata voted to resume operations, a watershed moment in the country's ‌return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster. 

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, located about 220 km northwest of Tokyo, was among 54 reactors shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. 

Since then, Japan has restarted 14 of the 33 that remains operable, as ⁠it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be the first operated by Tokyo ‍Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which ran the doomed Fukushima plant.

On Monday, Niigata Prefecture's assembly passed a vote of confidence ‍on Niigata Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, ‍who backed the restart last month, effectively allowing for the plant to begin operations again. 

Ahead of the vote, around 300 protesters, mostly ⁠older people, holding banners reading "No Nukes," "We oppose the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa" and "Support Fukushima" gathered in front of the Niigata Prefecture assembly in temperatures of 6 degrees Celsius.

 As the rally started, the mostly older crowd ​sang "Furusato" - a national song about connection to a birthplace, meaning "hometown" in Japanese. 

"Is TEPCO qualified to run Kashiwazaki-Kariwa?" a protester asked into the microphone, with the crowd yelling: "No!" 

TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20, public broadcaster NHK reported. 

"We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident and ensuring Niigata residents never experience anything similar," said TEPCO spokesperson Masakatsu Takata. Takata declined to comment on timing.

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