SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Some residents wept as Kyushu Electric Power Co. started up the Sendai nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor on Aug. 11, while others applauded the decision.
SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--Some residents wept as Kyushu Electric Power Co. started up the Sendai nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor on Aug. 11, while others applauded the decision.
It was the first reactor in Japan to come back online since operations came to a halt nationwide nearly two years ago in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
About 200 people gathered in front of the main gate of the Sendai plant on Aug. 11 to protest the restart. Calls of "Kyushu Electric has no respect for life," and "Remember Fukushima," were heard as the demonstrators took turns speaking into microphones to voice their concerns.
The loudest outcry came at 10:30 a.m., when Kyushu Electric Power started up the No. 1 reactor. Some of the protesters were in tears.
More than 200 police officers were deployed at the site in case of trouble.
The reactor was the first facility to receive approval for restart after passing stricter safety regulations instituted after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
It was the first of Japan’s 43 reactors to be brought back online, ending a period with no nuclear power in the nation that had lasted one year and 11 months.
"Our lives will be threatened if radiation leaks," said a 48-year-old woman from Aira, Kagoshima Prefecture, who attended the protest with her junior and senior high school student daughters. "It's highly irrational that our voices are being ignored."
Elsewhere, some restaurant and hotel operators in Satsuma-Sendai voiced their support for the reactor’s restart.
"People from all over Japan will come and visit the plant. I'm looking forward to it," said a man in his 40s who runs a hotel.
"As long as they're safe, we believe nuclear power plants are necessary in vitalizing local economies," added Hideo Iwakiri, the mayor of Satsuma-Sendai.