Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant: Safety Should Be Highest Priority in Restarting Reactor

Editorial

17:46 JST, January 23, 2026

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc. restarted the No. 6 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture for the first time in about 14 years. This was the first time TEPCO resumed operations of a reactor since the Great East Japan Earthquake.

TEPCO must once again take to heart the enormous damage caused by the accident that occurred at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the earthquake and ensure safe operations of the reactor.

On Wednesday evening, the utility withdrew control rods at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant to activate the reactor. However, the company decided to suspend operations the day after due to a problem.

This is a worrying start. TEPCO cannot be too careful in resuming operations. The company plans to start commercial operation of the reactor on Feb. 26 to supply electricity to the Tokyo metropolitan area. It should carefully examine its future schedule, with safety as the top priority.

Following the 2011 earthquake, there were no active reactors in Japan at one point. The accident at the Fukushima plant resulted in the release of a huge amount of radioactive materials, forcing 160,000 people to evacuate. The disaster caused extremely serious damage, including restrictions imposed on shipments of agricultural, forestry and fishery products.

The No. 6 reactor became the 15th reactor in Japan to be restarted. As the operator of the plant where the serious accident occurred, TEPCO must keep in mind that receiving approval to restart the reactor comes with heavy responsibility.

Over the past 15 years, the situation surrounding nuclear power generation has gone through significant changes in terms of the nation’s energy security and stable power supply.

Crude oil prices surged following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, putting a strain on people’s livelihoods and business activities. Moreover, nuclear power generation has become increasingly important in terms of accelerating efforts to realize a decarbonized society while at the same time ensuring a stable supply of energy.

Given the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, the government had adopted a policy of reducing dependence on nuclear power generation as much as possible. In 2022, however, the government decided to make a major change in its nuclear power policy, approving the construction of new reactors.

It seems that TEPCO was able to restart the No. 6 reactor mainly because more members of the public, including those in Niigata Prefecture, now understand the need for nuclear power generation. It can be said that Japan’s nuclear power policy has reached a major turning point.

However, residents in areas around the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant still have a deep-rooted distrust of TEPCO. While accidents should never happen, evacuation plans must be thoroughly examined in terms of their effectiveness.

A wide-ranging evacuation plan for the plant covers 420,000 residents in nine municipalities within its 30-kilometer radius. As these areas face heavy snow in winter, there are concerns over an accident possibly occurring during heavy snowfall. It is hoped that the central government will work with the prefectural government to ease concerns among local residents through such measures as improving nearby roads that would be used as evacuation routes.

In Fukushima Prefecture, there are still difficult-to-return zones around the No. 1 plant where entry is prohibited, in principle. Reconstruction of the prefecture is a heavy responsibility placed on TEPCO. In order to raise money to cover its share of the costs for decommissioning the reactors and pay compensation to affected people — totaling about ¥17 trillion — it is essential for the company to carry out management reforms.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 23, 2026)