Japan - First Reactor Is Restarted Since Quake

TOKYO — A two-month shutdown of Japan’s nuclear power plants ended on Sunday when officials at a western plant reactivated a reactor for the first time since the disaster last year in Fukushima.

The restarting of reactor No. 3 at the Ohi nuclear plant was ordered two weeks ago by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in a decision that has spurred growing public protests. 

The plant’s operator, Kansai Electric Power, had been working since then to prepare the reactor to resume its operations on Sunday. 

All of Japan’s 50 functional reactors were taken offline one by one for safety checks after the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which contaminated a large part of northern Japan with radiation. 

The last reactor was shut down in early May amid widespread public concern over the safety of nuclear plants in the event of another large earthquake and tsunami of the sort that struck Japan in March 2011. 

Mr. Noda said the restarting of the reactor was necessary to avoid crippling power shortages in the heavily urbanized Kansai region, which the plant serves. However, his decision has drawn unusually vocal public opposition in normally compliant Japan, with many Japanese saying that he ignored safety concerns to protect the powerful nuclear industry.

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