Japan is expected to approve restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant this week, local media reported on Wednesday, November 19th. The facility, operated by Tepco, would be the first of its reactors to resume functioning since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The plant’s restart comes as Japan seeks to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and advance its goal of carbon neutrality by 2050. Governor Hideyo Hanazumi of Niigata province is expected to hold a news conference on Friday, November 21st, to confirm the approval.
Only one of the plant’s seven reactors will resume operations initially, under a regime of strict safety regulations implemented in response to Fukushima. Meanwhile, the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant continues, a decades-long process involving remote-controlled robots to remove radioactive debris from melted reactors.
