Japan Approves Restart of World’s Biggest Atomic Power Plant

The world’s largest nuclear power plant has won a long-delayed approval to restart, a watershed moment for Japan and its energy industry after the country witnessed the worst atomic disaster this century.

Hideyo Hanazumi, the governor of Niigata prefecture, cleared two reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant. Speaking at a media conference on Friday, he said he would ask the local assembly to decide whether it has confidence in his decision and will allow him to continue in office, a formal step that will confirm the restart.