For the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster, northeastern Japan will see a nuclear reactor restart. This is Unit 2 of the Onagawa Power Plant, in Miyagi Prefecture, which runs on boiling water, the same type of plant that suffered a core meltdown during the nuclear crisis.
The Onagawa reactor, operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co., passed safety tests in February 2020 and received the green light from local authorities to resume operations after more than a decade, thanks to the completion of work to improve the safety of the plant, including construction. Construction of a 29 meter high boundary wall and improvement of the seismic resistance of the reactor building. During the March 2011 disaster, the three reactors at the Onagawa plant, closest to the epicenter of the 9.0-magnitude quake but in better shape than those at Fukushima Daiichi, shut down automatically.
The facility is expected to begin generating and transmitting power in early November, and commercial operation is expected around December. Although the Tokyo government wants to accelerate the resumption of nuclear power plants in the country, which lacks energy resources, concerns about safety still exist among various segments of the population. More than a dozen Ishinomaki residents had filed a lawsuit in 2021 to keep the Onagawa plant out of service, citing flaws in the evacuation and emergency plan, but the Sendai District Court rejected the request in May 2023.
In addition to the Onagawa unit, at least a dozen reactors at six nuclear power plants in central and southwestern Japan have resumed operations after passing required safety standards.
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