November 22, 2025

The Niigata governor on November 21 announced that he will approve the resumption of operations of Nos. 6 and 7 reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant (Niigata Pref.). If restarted, they will be the first TEPCO nuclear reactors to resume their operations since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Yamazoe Taku held a press conference on the same day in the Diet building, criticizing the restart as “utterly outrageous.”

He pointed out that TEPCO’s compensation for damages caused by the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident and the reconstruction of disaster victims’ livelihoods are still only halfway complete. He stated, “It is absolutely unacceptable for TEPCO to proceed with reactivating its nuclear reactors while the power company has yet to properly fulfil its responsibilities toward the many people in the region who suffered damages caused by the 2011 disaster, including those in Fukushima.”

Yamazoe also pointed to the inherent dangers of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP itself. He said, “In the 2007 earthquake that occurred off the coast of the Chuetsu region centered on Niigata Prefecture, the plant suffered damage exceeding expectations. It is clear that the location of this plant is not one where safety can be sufficiently ensured.”

He added, “TEPCO, whose qualifications as an operator of nuclear power plants are being questioned, should not proceed with restarting its NPPs.”

Past related article:
> TEPCO should retract its policy sticking to restart of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP [August 29, 2019]