Japan restarts first nuclear reactor since nationwide shutdown

(Bloomberg; Aug. 9) -Japan is rejoining the group of nations using atomic power as it sweeps aside public opposition and fires up one of the reactors shuttered for safety upgrades after the Fukushima nuclear disaster more than four years ago. Kyushu Electric Power will begin bringing online the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai facility Aug. 11, starting power generation as early as Aug. 14, and returning it to normal operations next month, the company said in a statement.

Two of its reactors on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu are the first to pass tougher safety checks set by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the agency created after the Fukushima disaster, and to overcome legal challenges. “The Sendai restart is obviously a very big positive for the industry overall and for Kyushu in particular,” Polina Diyachkina, an analyst at Macquarie Group in Tokyo, said by phone Aug. 10. “Going forward, the restarts approval process will be smoother and faster.”

The Sendai restart follows years of evolving safety standards and government approvals in the face of public opposition and court battles as one of the world’s richest countries and biggest energy users struggled with how to power its future. Kyushu Electric Power aims to restart a second reactor by the middle of October. There is still strong opposition to nuclear power in Japan. A newspaper’s public survey published this month showed 57 percent of respondents were not in favor of restarting Sendai.