For the first time since the nuclear disaster Fukushima The Japanese energy company Tepco wants one again reactor connect to the network. ”As the company responsible for the Fukushima Daiichi accident, we will apply the knowledge and lessons learned,” said Tepco President Tomoaki Kobayakawa. The first unit of the world’s largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, is scheduled to be started up again on January 20th.
The regional parliament of Niigata Prefecture, where the plant is located, approved the partial restart this week. “We will continue the recommissioning, the first in 14 years, with safety as our top priority,” Kobayakawa continued.
Japan wants to double the share of nuclear power in the energy mix
After an earthquake and a tsunami in 2011, it was at the nuclear power plant Fukushima Daiichi suffered a nuclear meltdown – the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. As a result, all 54 reactors in Japan were shut down. Former Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel saw the catastrophe as an opportunity to accelerate the phase-out of nuclear energy.
Meanwhile, Japan 14 of the 33 still operational reactors were put back into operation in order to become more independent of imported fossil fuels. The government in Tokyo wants to double the share of nuclear energy in the energy mix.
