Japan to restart the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, 15 years after Fukushima disaster

Japanese authorities have approved a decision to restart the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, which has sat dormant for more than a decade following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, in a pivotal moment as the country looks to looks to shift its energy supply away from fossil fuels.

Despite nerves from many local residents, the Niigata prefectural assembly, home to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, approved a bill on Monday that clears the way for utility company Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to restart one of the plant’s seven reactors.

The company plans to bring the No. 6 reactor back online around January 20, Japan’s public broadcaster NHK reported.

Japan has taken a cautious approach to nuclear energy since a massive 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami in 2011 triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. It was the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Following the disaster, Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear power stations including Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, which sits in the coastal and port region of Niigata about 320 kilometers (200 miles) north of Tokyo on Japan’s main island of Honshu.

Japan has since restarted 14 of the 33 nuclear reactors that remain operable, according to the World Nuclear Association.

The Niigata plant will be the first to reopen under the operation of TEPCO, the company that ran the Fukushima Daiichi power station. It has been trying to reassure residents of the restart plan is safe.