Overview
- TEPCO suspended operation of Unit 6 at the Kashiwazaki‑Kariwa plant in Niigata shortly after restarting it for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
- The utility reported an alarm related to control‑rod equipment, after a similar alert in final testing had already pushed the restart back by a day.
- Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority said the reactor remains stable, and Niigata authorities reported no abnormal radiation around the facility.
- The restart had been confined to one of the complex’s seven reactors following the Niigata governor’s approval last month.
- Local polling shows 60% opposed and 37% in favor of a restart, protests have taken place near the plant, and the prime minister supports civilian nuclear power to cut fossil fuels and meet growing electricity demand on the path to 2050 carbon neutrality.