The Japanese region of Niigata is expected to approve the restart of the world’s largest nuclear power plant on Monday, marking a watershed moment in the country’s shift back to nuclear energy since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility, located about 220 kilometers northwest of Tokyo on the Sea of Japan coast, is the world’s largest nuclear power plant by output capacity. Operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant was among 54 nuclear reactors across Japan that were shut down following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
As Japan accelerates its nuclear revival, the future of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa will be closely watched as a test of whether public trust and political consensus can be rebuilt more than a decade after Fukushima.
Photo: AI Image
