Japan restarts second nuclear reactor

Tokyo – A nuclear reactor near an active volcano in Japan was put back online on Thursday, the second unit to be restarted in the country under updated regulations following a triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi atomic power station in 2011.

Kyushu Electric Power Co reactivated Reactor 2 at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant, 1 000km southwest of Tokyo, about two months after the operator resumed work at Reactor 1.

The operator said Reactor 2 was expected to restart generating electricity on October 21, and enter commercial operation in November at the plant, which is located 50km from the active Sakurajima volcano on the southern island of Kyushu.

The other 46 reactors in Japan remain offline amid lingering public fears of nuclear power generation following the country’s worst-ever atomic accident in March 2011.

The plant suffered meltdowns at three of its six reactors after it was hit by an earthquake and tsunami. More than 110 000 residents have not been able to return home to areas near the complex due to radioactive contamination.