Nuclear alarm in Japan: Restart frozen due to technical anomaly

Japan is in a state of emergency alert as the long-awaited and highly controversial restart of the world's largest nuclear power plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, was abruptly suspended on Thursday, January 22, just hours after the process began. Memories of the nightmarish Fukushima disaster in 2011 were violently awakened when an alarm in the monitoring system forced technicians to instantly terminate reactor operations.

Thriller over reactor stability

The corporate giant TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power), which manages the plant—as well as the devastated Fukushima Daiichi facility—rushed to provide assurances that the nuclear reactor remains "stable" and there is no radiation leak. However, spokesperson Takashi Kobayashi admitted that investigations into the causes of the incident are underway and it remains unknown when a new restart attempt will be made.

A series of technical failures

This was not the first warning. The restart had already been delayed since last Tuesday due to another technical problem identified over the weekend. Unit number 6 of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa was intended to become the first TEPCO reactor to go into operation since 2011, yet these successive failures are causing global concern.

Anger and despair among residents: "Are we expendable?"

Japanese public opinion is in an uproar, with 60% of Niigata prefecture residents strongly opposing the restart. "Tokyo's electricity is produced here, and only the local residents should be at risk? This lacks any logic!" 73-year-old Yumiko Abe exclaimed during a protest rally. 81-year-old Keisuke Abe stated in anger: "The situation in Fukushima remains out of control after 15 years. The fact that TEPCO wants to reopen a plant is unacceptable!"

High-risk zone: Positioned over seismic faults

Approximately 40,000 citizens have signed a declaration against the plant's operation, highlighting that it is located in an extremely dangerous seismic zone, which was struck by a powerful earthquake in 2007. The new complication at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station intensifies the fear that Japan may be on the verge of a new nuclear nightmare.

www.bankingnews.gr