World’s largest nuclear power plant suspended just hours after it resumed operations
Fourteen other nuclear reactors have restarted across Japan since 2011
The world’s largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, saw its restart suspended just hours after it resumed operations for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The No. 6 reactor at the plant in north-central Japan was halted due to a glitch involving control rods, which are crucial for the safe operation of reactors, according to operator Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO).
TEPCO stated there was no immediate safety concern arising from the malfunction and confirmed it was investigating the situation. The timeline for resuming the restart process remains unclear.
The restart at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has been under intense scrutiny, particularly as TEPCO also manages the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which was devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Resource-poor Japan is increasingly relying on atomic power to meet its escalating electricity demands.
All seven reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa have been dormant since a year after the meltdowns of reactors at the Fukushima plant contaminated the surrounding land with radioactive fallout so severe that some areas are still unlivable.
TEPCO is working on the cleanup at the Fukushima site that’s estimated to cost 22 trillion yen ($139 billion). It's also trying to recover from the damage to its reputation after government and independent investigations blamed the Fukushima disaster on TEPCO’s bad safety culture and criticized it for collusion with safety authorities.
Fourteen other nuclear reactors have restarted across Japan since 2011, but the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, about 220 kilometers (135 miles) northwest of Tokyo, is the first TEPCO-run unit to resume production.
A restart of the No. 6 reactor could generate an additional 1.35 million kilowatts of electricity, enough to power more than 1 million households in the capital region.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant’s combined output capacity of 8 million kilowatts makes it the world’s largest, though TEPCO plans to resume only two of the seven reactors in coming years.
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