World’s biggest nuclear plant may restart

Japanese local authorities approved the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear plant yesterday for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

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Hideyo Hanazumi, governor of Niigata province where the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant is located, told a news conference he “would approve” the resumption, which will need final permission by Japan’s nuclear regulator.

The plant was taken offline when Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after a colossal earthquake and tsunami sent three reactors at the Fukushima atomic plant into meltdown in 2011.

However, the resource-poor nation now wants to revive atomic energy to reduce its heavy dependence on fossil fuels, achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and meet growing energy needs from artificial intelligence.