Uchikura & Co., LLC

Japan has restarted TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 Nuclear Power Plant with a clear goal: reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

 

Japan operates one of the world’s largest nuclear fleets, with 33 operable reactors in total. However, only a portion of them are currently active. As of now, around 14–15 reactors are back in operation, while the rest remain offline due to safety reviews, upgrades, local approvals, or decommissioning decisions following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

 

That means more than half of Japan’s nuclear capacity is still not generating power.

 

After Fukushima, Japan sharply increased imports of LNG, coal, and oil to replace lost nuclear generation. This raised electricity costs, increased carbon emissions, and made Japan more vulnerable to global fuel price shocks.

 

Restarting TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Unit 6 is part of a broader strategy to reverse that dependence.

 

The goal is not just electricity production—it is energy security, cost stability, and national resilience. Every reactor brought back online can reduce the need for imported fossil fuels while providing steady baseload power.

 

Japan still faces public trust and safety challenges, but from an energy strategy perspective, restarting nuclear remains one of the fastest large-scale options available.