Japan Greenlights World’s Largest Nuclear Plant Restart 15 Years After Fukushima

Image: from People’s Daily, China X@PDChina

By Open Chronicle Staff with Agencies | December 22, 2025

NIIGATA, Japan — Japan has cleared the final political hurdle to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, the world’s largest nuclear power plant, marking a historic pivot in the nation’s energy strategy nearly 15 years after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

On Monday, the Niigata Prefectural Assembly passed a decisive vote of confidence in Governor Hideyo Hanazumi, effectively endorsing his earlier decision to allow the plant back online. The No. 6 reactor at the site is now scheduled to begin generating electricity as early as January 20, 2026.

A Strategic Pivot Toward Nuclear

Following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan idled all 54 of its nuclear reactors.⁴ However, a decade and a half of escalating fuel import costs, reaching 10.7 trillion yen for LNG and coal in 2024 alone, has forced a national recalculation.

Prime Minister Sane Takaichi, who took office two months ago, has aggressively backed the restart to stabilize electricity prices and secure the power needed for energy-intensive AI data centers. The government aims to double nuclear power’s share of Japan’s electricity mix to 20% by 2040.

Safety and Local Incentives

As the operator of the ill-fated Fukushima plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) faces intense scrutiny. To win over a skeptical public, the utility has implemented several layers of “defense-in-depth” safety upgrades:

• Tsunami Protection: Construction of a massive 15-meter seawall.

• Watertight Infrastructure: Installation of watertight doors and upgraded filtration systems.

• Emergency Power: On-site mobile generators and additional fire trucks for cooling.

In a move to revitalize the local economy, TEPCO has also pledged 100 billion yen ($641 million) in investments for Niigata Prefecture over the next 10 years.

Deep Community Divisions

Despite the assembly’s approval, the vote took place against a backdrop of public unrest. Approximately 300 protesters gathered in 6°C temperatures outside the government office, holding banners reading “No Nukes” and “Support Fukushima.”

“I want to see an era where we don’t have to rely on energy sources that cause anxiety,” said Governor Hideyo Hanazumi after the vote, acknowledging the lingering trauma of 2011 even as he greenlit the restart for economic reasons.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa restart is being watched closely by energy-dependent nations like Türkiye, which is currently developing its own nuclear infrastructure at Akkuyu. For Japan, the success of this unit will serve as a definitive test of whether public trust can be truly rebuilt in a post-Fukushima era.