Japan was due to restart its first nuclear reactor since the Fukushima disaster in March, a symbolically important first step before dozens of idle reactors can be brought back online.
Kyushu Electric Power, a utility in the southwest of the country, said it planned to restart the No 4 reactor at its Genkai atomic power station late on Tuesday night. The reactor shut down automatically on October 4 after sensors detected a problem with its cooling system, which Kyushu Electric said had since been repaired.
Japan had 54 working nuclear reactors before the earthquake and tsunami ravaged the northeast coast on March 11, causing meltdowns at three reactors inside Tokyo Electric Power’s Fukushima Daiichi power station and damaging several more.