After the tragic Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, Japan has been slow to recover its nuclear power industry after shutting down many plants. Now, the Tokyo Electric Power Company has been given authorization to restart the country’s largest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata prefecture. The company announced the restart approval:
Today, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. received approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority for the test use of the reactor in preparation to confirm the integrity verifications of systems including the pre-operational operator inspection to be
conducted after reactor startup.Preparations for the reactor startup have been underway since the submission of the pre-operational confirmation modification application on December 24, 2025. At 7:02 p.m. today, the control rods were withdrawn thereby initiating reactor startup.
We shall move forward with verifying the integrity of the plant facilities under conditions that use actual steam and carefully cooperate with inspections conducted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
As it has been approximately 14 years since the power station was in operation, we will carefully verify the integrity of each and every plant facility while suitably addressing any issues that arise and conveying information to the public during each step of the
startup process.We remain fully committed to demonstrating through actions and results that we are prioritizing safety at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station.
America isn’t the only country with a thirst for electricity to power artificial intelligence data centers. Japan rapidly reduced its reliance on nuclear power post-Fukushima. Now it needs more power, and the renewal of mothballed nuclear facilities is the logical place to start.
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