Japan has restarted the world’s largest nuclear power plant, its operator confirmed Monday, following a previous attempt that was halted due to a minor technical issue.

A monitoring alarm issue in January forced the first restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant since the 2011 Fukushima disaster to be suspended.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that the Niigata facility resumed operations at 2:00 pm local time (0500 GMT).

The plant had remained offline after Japan shut down its nuclear reactors in the aftermath of a massive earthquake and tsunami, which triggered a meltdown at the Fukushima atomic plant.

Japan is now returning to nuclear energy to reduce reliance on fossil fuels, meet growing energy demands driven by artificial intelligence, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Conservative Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who secured a decisive election victory on Sunday, has long championed nuclear power as a key driver for Japan’s economic growth.

TEPCO initially attempted to restart one of the seven reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on January 21, but operations were suspended the following day after a monitoring system alarm was triggered.

“The alarm had picked up slight changes to the electrical current in one cable even though these were still within a range considered safe,” TEPCO officials explained at a news conference last week.

The company has now adjusted the alarm settings, deeming the reactor safe for operation.

Commercial activities are expected to begin on or after March 18, following a further comprehensive inspection.

While Kashiwazaki-Kariwa is the world’s largest nuclear power plant in terms of potential capacity, only one of its seven reactors has been restarted.

Since the post-Fukushima shutdown, 14 reactors, mainly in western and southern Japan, have resumed operations, with 13 running as of mid-January.

This marks the first TEPCO-operated reactor to restart since 2011; the company also manages the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex has undergone major safety upgrades, including a 15-metre-high (50-foot) tsunami wall, elevated emergency power systems, and other precautionary measures.

Local opinion remains sharply divided: a survey by Niigata prefecture in September found that about 60 percent of residents oppose the restart, while 37 percent support it.

Many have expressed concern over the risk of a serious accident, citing prior cover-up scandals, minor incidents, and what they consider insufficient evacuation plans.

On January 8, seven anti-restart groups submitted a petition with nearly 40,000 signatures to TEPCO and Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority.

“We will continue to demonstrate our commitment to safety as our priority at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station through our actions and results,” TEPCO said in a statement Monday.