Japan switches on Ohi nuclear reactor amid protests

Japan has restarted the first nuclear reactor since the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant last year.

Hundreds gathered near the plant in the town of Ohi to protest against the move, which has divided public opinion.

Last month, the prime minister urged support, saying a return to nuclear power was essential for the economy.

All 50 of Japan's nuclear plants were shut after the meltdown at Fukushima, which was triggered by a tsunami and earthquake.

The crisis was regarded as the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. Road blocked

It will take until Wednesday before the No 3 reactor at Ohi, in Fukui prefecture on the west coast, can start supplying electricity.

The reactor is expected to be fully operational by the end of the week, the operator, Kansai Electric Power Co (Kepco) says.

About 100 of the 650 protesters at the nuclear plant blocked a nearby road overnight, but a Kepco spokesman said the reactivation was not affected, according to the Reuters news agency.

The restart of the reactor follows an order by Mr Noda last month authorising the reactivation of both it and another reactor at Ohi - No 4 - following stress tests. Reactor No 4 is to be restarted on 14 July.

At the time, he called on the Japanese to support the move, saying it was needed to bolster the economy and prevent energy shortages over the summer.

The decision was welcomed by businesses who had voiced concern over the lack of power for industry.

There will be daily power shutoffs for hours at a time ( at different times depending on where you live ) across Japan starting today

Some businesses cannot tolerate loss of power. Think of steel mills, with a sea of molten metal, that cools down and solidifies inside of furnaces. Aluminum plants are even worse; they require gigawatts of power. If their power supply is threatened they will be forced to stop production.

But even if in other industries the damage is not as catastrophic, it's still painful and expensive. Imagine a datacenter with 10,000 individual servers losing power and shutting down. Many of those servers will be unable to come up back in the original state.

Or think about refrigerators, large and small, in which food and medical supplies will spoil. Worse still, you do not know what food and what supplies are still safe because your thermometer that writes a log lost power too.

Even if you are a mere engineer working on a project, how can you work if your computer is off and the lights in the building are dark and you cannot even find your way to the stairwell? Most businesses do not stock candles. I guess Japan now has to do that.

The modern society is completely dependent on uninterrupted supplies of energy. Humans can always go back into caves, of course, but 90% of the population will have to die.

“The world cannot prosper without nuclear power.”

There was a time I would have agreed with you...I still might, but it needs to be from Thorium Reactors...safe, secure, no waste issues.

And this is only temporary...there are those who know how to get each of us off the grid...no wind, solar or water power...generate to your hearts content, or to your hearts demands, and it is all free after the initial investment...so I am told, and I have seen benchscale demonstrations.

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