Japan Restarts Another Nuclear Reactor

Kyushu Electric Power Company Operator said that a nuclear reactor near an active volcano in Japan was put back online on Thursday.

According to the operator, that was the second unit to be restarted in the country under updated regulations following a triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi atomic power station in 2011.

``Kyushu Electric Power Co reactivated Reactor 2 at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant, 1,000 kilometres south-west of Tokyo, about two months after the operator resumed work at Reactor 1,’’ the company said.

It said Reactor 2 was expected to restart generating electricity on October 21 and entered commercial operation in November at the plant.

The other 46 reactors in Japan remained offline amid lingering public fears of nuclear power generation following the country's worst-ever atomic accident in March 2011.

The plant suffered meltdowns at three of its six reactors after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami.

Report says over 110,000 residents have not been able to return home to areas near the complex due to radioactive contamination. NAN