Japanese nuclear reactor restarted

Kyushu Electric Power said it had restarted the No 1 reactor at its Sendai nuclear plant in Satsumasendai as planned.

The restart marks Japan’s return to nuclear energy four and a half years after the meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant following an earthquake and tsunami.

National broadcaster NHK showed plant workers in the control room as they turned the reactor back on.

The Fukushima Dai-ichi disaster in 2011 displaced more than 100,000 people due to radioactive contamination in the area and spurred a national debate over this resource-scarce country’s reliance on nuclear power.

Dozens of protesters including ex-prime minister Naoto Kan, who was in office at the time of the disaster and has become an outspoken critic of nuclear power, were gathered outside the plant as police stood guard.

The Nuclear Regulation Authority affirmed the safety of the Sendai reactor and another one at the plant last September under stricter safety rules imposed after the 2011 accident.

All Japan’s nuclear plants were shut down for the past two years. To offset the shortfall in power output, the country ramped up imports of oil and gas and fired up more thermal power plants, slowing progress towards reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases.

Industry minister Yoichi Miyazawa said the government would “put safety first” in resuming use of nuclear power.