France Press agency
staff
Tokyo, Japan –
On Wednesday, a nuclear reactor in northern Japan became the first among those affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami to receive final approval for restarting, with the support of regional authorities
One of the reactors at the Onagawa Nuclear Plant, 340 kilometers north of Tokyo, has already been allowed to restart by regulatory authorities after meeting the new safety standards imposed after the Fukushima disaster.
But it became the first damaged reactor to gain domestic support for restarting, after Miyagi Governor Yoshihiro Murai halted support for his successor.
All nuclear power plants in Japan were closed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident after the tsunami, and most of them are still closed
But the government has pushed to restart them online, especially with the pressure of the new 2050 deadline for carbon neutrality.
« Due to the closure of nuclear plants, Japan is increasingly dependent on thermal energy using fossil fuels, » Murray told reporters
“There is concern about increasing carbon dioxide emissions. We cannot expect a sudden expansion in the use of safe and clean renewable energy to support demand”
But even with approval, it will take some time for the plant to resume working.
The Nikkei Business Daily said the Tohoku Electric Power reactor operator was aiming to restart in March 2023, after additional safety measures were completed.
Japanese public opinion has turned against atomic energy, despite the government’s insistence that the nation needs nuclear plants to power the world’s third largest economy
In January, a Supreme Court ruled to keep a reactor at the Ikata nuclear plant near a fault line in western Ehimeh closed due to the risk of it being exposed to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
The case was originally brought up by residents of a nearby area who complained that the instrument failed to properly assess the risks posed by the local volcano and seismic fault lines.
A total of 16 reactors have so far passed new record tests set after the 2011 disaster, including one destroyed by a tsunami, according to NHK Public Radio.
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nuclear reactor, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, Japan, nuclear power plant, Miyagi, Tohoku Electric Power, Onagawa, 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, tsunami
World news – African Union – Tsunami- Hitting a Japanese nuclear reactor gets approval to restart
