The Japanese power utility Tohoku Electric Power Company has restarted the 800 MW second unit at the Onagawa nuclear power plant, located in the Miyagi Prefecture of northern Japan. The reactor is expected to generate electricity and to be connected to the grid in early November 2024. The reactor had cleared safety screening in February 2020 and gained local consent to resume operations.
The Onagawa power plant, located in eastern Tohoku, was mothballed after sustaining damage during the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which also damaged the Fukushima nuclear plant located further south. Onagawa-2 is the first boiling water reactor (the same type as the Fukushima Daiichi reactors) to be reactivated in Japan since the 2011 disaster. Onagawa-3 (800 MW) is also set up for restart in the future, while Onagawa-1 (500 MW) was decommissioned in 2018.
In June 2023, the Japanese parliament enacted a law to allow nuclear reactors in Japan to operate beyond their current limit of 60 years, in order to help cut greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a sufficient energy supply for the country.
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