Japan restarts world’s biggest nuclear power plant again
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TEPCO switched on the world's biggest nuclear power plant again on Feb 9 after an earlier attempt was quickly suspended due to a minor glitch.
PHOTO: AFP
TOKYO – Japan switched on the world’s biggest nuclear power plant again on Feb 9 after an earlier attempt was quickly suspended due to a minor glitch.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in the Niigata region restarted at 2pm (1pm, Singapore time), the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) said in a statement.
A glitch with an alarm in January forced the suspension of its first restart since the 2011 Fukushima disaster
The facility had been offline since Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown.
But now, Japan is turning to atomic energy to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.
Conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who pulled off a thumping election victory
TEPCO initially moved to start one of seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant on Jan 21 but shut it off the following day
The alarm picked up slight changes to the electrical current in one cable, even though these were still within a range considered safe, TEPCO officials told reporters last week.
The firm has changed the alarm’s settings as the reactor is safe to operate.
The commercial operation will commence on or after March 18 after another comprehensive inspection, according to TEPCO officials. AFP
