Japan will switch the world’s largest nuclear power plant back on next week, after an alarm-setting glitch forced a halt to its first restart attempt since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, the operator said.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, known as TEPCO, said it plans to resume the start-up of a reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station in Niigata prefecture on Feb. 9. A previous bid to relaunch the unit last month was suspended just hours into the process.
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“We plan to start up the reactor on February 9,” Takeyuki Inagaki, head of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, told reporters at a news conference, adding that the issue was tied to an alarm setting and did not affect the safe operation of the facility.
The restart, if carried out as planned, would mark a milestone for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa — the world’s largest nuclear power station by installed capacity — which has been offline since Japan shut down its reactor fleet in the wake of the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and triple meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi plant. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was one of 54 reactors taken offline nationwide following the disaster.
TEPCO said engineers have addressed the alarm configuration and completed checks to proceed with the start-up sequence. The company did not disclose a detailed timeline for when the unit might begin sending power to the grid, noting that the pace will depend on routine verifications and regulatory oversight during initial operations.
Japan has spent more than a decade overhauling nuclear safety, creating stricter standards and heavier oversight under the Nuclear Regulation Authority. While several reactors have cleared post-Fukushima checks and returned to service in recent years, restarts remain politically and socially sensitive, particularly in communities hosting nuclear sites. Operators must secure regulatory approvals and work closely with regional authorities and residents before bringing units back online.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa restart is central to Japan’s broader energy strategy. The government has said reviving some idled reactors can help cut greenhouse gas emissions, stabilize electricity prices and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels that surged after 2011 and during recent global market shocks. Nuclear power’s role in Japan’s energy mix remains contested, however, with public concerns focusing on earthquake resilience, emergency preparedness and long-term waste management.
TEPCO said the renewed start-up will follow a staged process typical of boiling water reactors: bringing the unit to criticality, conducting low-power tests and gradually raising output before connecting to the grid, all under regulatory scrutiny. The company pledged to publish updates as the sequence advances.
The development will be closely watched across Japan’s energy sector as an indicator of whether long-mothballed capacity can return to stable operation. A smooth restart at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa would boost the country’s winter and spring power outlook and signal momentum for other potential restarts under the post-Fukushima regulatory regime. Any fresh delays or technical issues would add pressure to Japan’s power supply plans and keep the spotlight on the costs and complexities of reviving nuclear assets.
For now, TEPCO’s message is one of caution and confidence: the alarm-setting glitch has been corrected, safety systems are functioning as designed and the operator is prepared to move ahead on Feb. 9 — 13 years after a national reckoning over the risks and role of nuclear energy began on Japan’s northeast coast.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
