Power crunch: Japan restarts nuclear reactor

TOKYO: Engineers were on Sunday readying to refire the Kansai Electric Power Company’s 1.18 million-kilowatt reactor, despite growing public protests in the aftermath of meltdowns at Fukushima in March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, ending nearly two months in which Japan was nuclear-free.

Hundreds of protesters blocked the road to the front gate of the power station. The country has been operating without nuclear power since early May when the last of its 50 working reactors was shut down for a scheduled safety check. Restarts had put been on hold as the government mulled its options. But on June 16, Prime Minister Yoshihito Noda gave the green light to restart two reactors at the Oi plant in an effort to head off a summer power crunch amid warnings of a huge electricity shortfall.

Prior to Fukushima, nuclear power had supplied a third of Japan’s electricity needs.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2012.