World’s Largest Nuclear Power Plant: The world’s largest nuclear power plant in Japan (Kashiwazaki-Kariwa) resumed operations on Wednesday. It was closed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster in north-central Japan. When Japan is increasing the use of atomic power to meet its increasing electricity needs, the need for this nuclear power plant was felt once again. After this it has now been restarted.
Concern among people regarding nuclear power plant
The start-up process of energy production at the No. 6 reactor of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is an important step, as it is being operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings (TEPCO). This is the same company which is also responsible for the operation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Due to TEPCO’s past safety problems in Fukushima, there are concerns about the operation of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, especially since the plant is located in an earthquake-prone area.
The accident affected area is still not habitable
All seven reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant were shut down after the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011. Let us tell you, in this accident the reactors had melted down, due to which the surrounding land was so badly contaminated with radioactive waste that even now it is not fit to live there.
TEPCO is cleaning the Daiichi plant.
However TEPCO is now trying to improve its image. It is also carrying out cleanup work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which is estimated to cost 22 trillion yen (about $139 billion). A total of 14 other nuclear reactors have restarted operation in Japan since 2011, but this is the first time a TEPCO-operated reactor has returned to production.