Aerial photo shows the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Kashiwazaki, northern Japan. File
| Photo Credit: AP
Tokyo Electric Power will delay the restart of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday (January 20, 2026) for a few days, public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday (January 19), after an alarm malfunction.
It would have been the first reactor restart for TEPCO since its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was destroyed by a tsunami in 2011.
The company had planned to restart Unit No. 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on January 20 and Unit No. 7 around 2030, as Japan seeks greater energy security and lower fossil fuel import costs.
NHK, citing sources, said the delay was due to an alarm malfunction that occurred during equipment testing over the weekend and the new restart date should be within a few days.
A TEPCO spokesperson said the company was examining the impact of the malfunction. Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s total capacity is 8.2 gigawatts.
TEPCO has planned to resume commercial operations of reactor No. 6, which has 1.36 GW capacity, on February 26.
Test for TEPCO
The restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, is being closely watched as a test for TEPCO and the Japanese nuclear power industry at a time when Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is pushing for new reactor build-ups, including via a new public funding scheme, to boost energy security.
Japan shut down all its 54 reactors after the Fukushima meltdown but has since restarted 14 of the 33 that remain operable.
Also Read I 13 years after meltdown, Fukushima’s reactor room remains a ‘mystery’
This month, Japan’s nuclear watchdog said it would order Chubu Electric Power to submit a detailed report on falsified seismic data and pause its review of the utility’s application to restart Hamaoka, its only atomic plant.
Chubu Electric’s President Kingo Hayashi stepped down as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies on Friday, as he apologised for the incident.
“The electric power business cannot exist without public trust. The erosion of that trust is extremely serious,” Hayashi told a briefing on Friday.
Published – January 19, 2026 12:49 pm IST
