Japanese nuclear power

Japan restarts reactor despite protests

The Japanese have begun building a huge sea wall around the world's biggest nuclear plant in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa with the intention of restarting at least one of its seven reactors next April.

All Japan's nuclear power plants were closed after the tsunami 20 months ago that devastated the Fukushima complex, and public opinion against restarting them is strong.

"Blocking the tsunami is important, but our scheme even considers cases where the size of tsunami exceeds our design limit and cuts power, causing failure of the the cooling water injectors, like what happened in Fukushima," said Tepco deputy site manager Shiro Arai.

Japan has decided to restart reactors at Ohi, which sparked protests this weekend, as geologists claimed the government had learned nothing from Fukushima. Ohi sits on an active earthquake faultline, and if it is hit by a stong enough shock, experts predict another Fukushima-style meltdown.