The Japanese nuclear power plant at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the largest in the world, resumed operations on Wednesday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, despite persistent public concerns. In the first phase, only one of the plant's seven reactors was restarted, announced Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the facility's operator. The restart took place at 7:02 p.m. local time, Tatsuya Matoba, a Tepco spokesman, told the French news agency AFP. The governor of Niigata Prefecture, where the plant is located, had given his approval for the restart last month, despite widespread public opposition. Polls show that 60 percent are against it. Tepco brought reactor number 6 at the plant online, the Japanese news agency Kyodo reported, one of the two reactors that have received approval from authorities to resume operations. The restart comes a day late due to the detection of a fault in an alarm, which did not sound during a test to remove the reactor's control rods.

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The Niigata prefectural assembly approved the restart of the plant's sixth reactor in December, after the national nuclear regulator gave its approval to start up two of the complex's seven reactors. Reactors 6 and 7 passed inspections for reactivation in 2017, but the plant was subsequently ordered to remain inoperative due to security lapses against terrorist attacks. With a capacity of over 8,000 megawatts (MW), the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is a key component of Tepco's energy supply plan and aligns with the strategy promoted by the Japanese government under Sanae Takaichi to boost nuclear power plants in order to achieve its emissions reduction targets. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was shut down when Japan closed all its reactors following the triple disaster—earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident—at Fukushima in March 2011.