Japan is all set to restart the world’s largest nuclear power point on Monday December 22,2025.
Located about 220 km northwest of Tokyo,Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, was among 54 reactors that shut after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
As reported by Reuters,it will be the first plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co TEPCO, which ran the doomed Fukushima plant.
The decision came after the region of Niigata voted to resume operations—a watershed moment in the country’s return to nuclear energy nearly 15 years after the Fukushima disaster.
Japan,since then has restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable, as it tries to wean itself off imported fossil fuels.
Reluctant residents started protests
Soon as the pronouncement initiated, around 300 protesters, mostly older people, holding banners reading ‘No Nukes’, ‘We oppose the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’ and ‘Support Fukushima’ gathered in front of the Niigata prefecture assembly on Monday, as local lawmakers prepared to make their decision later in the day.
As the rally started ahead of the vote, people were singing ‘Furusato’—a national song about connection to a birthplace, meaning ‘homeland’ in Japanese.
“We remain firmly committed to never repeating such an accident and ensuring Niigata residents never experience anything similar,” said TEPCO spokesperson Masakatsu Takata. Takata declined to comment on timing.
Many locals remain cautious
TEPCO earlier this year, pledged to inject 100 billion yen ($641 million) into the prefecture over the next 10 years as it sought to win the support of Niigata residents.
A survey published by the prefecture in October 2025 found 60% of residents did not think conditions for the restart had been met.
Whereas, nearly 70% were worried about TEPCO operating the plant.
Ayako Oga, 52, settled in Niigata after fleeing the area around the Fukushima plant in 2011 with 160,000 other evacuees told her old home was inside the 20 km irradiated exclusion zone.
The farmer and anti-nuclear activist had also joined protests against what she sees as a new threat on her doorstep.
“Never forget Fukushima’s lessons!”
“We know firsthand the risk of a nuclear accident and cannot dismiss it,” said Oga, adding that she still struggles with post-traumatic stress-like symptoms from what happened at Fukushima.
“As a victim of the Fukushima nuclear accident, I wish that no one, whether in Japan or anywhere in the world, ever again suffers the damage of a nuclear accident,” said added.
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi backs the initiative
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, has backed nuclear restarts to strengthen energy security and to counter the cost of imported fossil fuels, which account for 60% to 70% of Japan’s electricity generation.
Joshua Ngu, vice chairman for Asia Pacific at consultancy Wood Mackenzie, said public acceptance of the restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa would represent “a critical milestone” towards reaching those goals.
Japan spent 10.7 trillion yen ($68 billion) last year on imported liquefied natural gas and coal, a tenth of its total import costs.
Despite its shrinking population, Japan expects energy demand to rise over the coming decade due to a boom in power-hungry AI data centres.
To meet those needs, and its decarbonisation commitments, it has set a target of doubling the share of nuclear power in its electricity mix to 20% by 2040.
If approved, TEPCO is considering reactivating the first of seven reactors at the plant on January 20, 2026, public broadcaster NHK reported.
