Nuclear restart in Japan sparking confidence, FORATOM says

The European Atomic Forum (FORATOM) said Monday the restarting of Kyushu Electric Co.'s Sendai 1 nuclear reactor, and many others in Japan applying for restarting procedures, indicates growing confidence in nuclear power.

The Sendai nuclear plant officially restarted its nuclear operations and became the first Japanese nuclear reactor to come online following the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in 2011 and subsequent regulatory requirements being implemented by the Japanese government and Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA).

Approximately 20 reactors are in the process of applying necessary safety and technological improvements in line with new regulations and have applied to open their generation operations.

"We see this start-up as one of the important steps in the restart process for the nuclear reactor," Kyushu President Michiaki Uriu said. "We will continue to sincerely make an all-out effort to deal with the Nuclear Regulation Authority's inspections, and carefully carry out the remaining process, giving utmost priority to safety, with a sense of alertness more than ever."

The FORATOM report states that nuclear generation and other sources of low-carbon energy will be necessary to meet global energy challenges including increased demand and the reduction of carbon emissions.

The Japanese government hopes to have its nuclear share to be approximately 20 to 22 percent of all electricity generation in the country by 2030 in an effort to reduce carbon emissions by 26 percent.