Operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant prepares to restart another plant

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — The operator of the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has obtained permission from safety regulators to start loading atomic fuel into a reactor at its only operable plant in Japan, which it is keen to restart for the first time since the 2011 disaster. Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings said the loading of nuclear fuel into No. 7 reactor at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in north-central Japan is to start later Monday. Japan is accelerating the use of nuclear power as a stable and clean source of energy. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which is the world’s biggest, has been offline since 2012 as part of nationwide reactor shutdowns in response to the March 2011 triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.