The restart of the unit, which uses plutonium-based MOX fuel, represents the firm’s first reactor to complete stringent safety checks which were introduced following the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) cited Greenpeace Japan senior global energy campaigner Kendra Ulrich as saying in a statement: "Allowing the restart of the Takahama reactors with potential fire safety hazards that would pose significant risk of reactor core meltdown is irresponsible.
"Once again, it may be the people of Japan who end up paying the price for their government’s nuclear gambling."
Kansai Electric is also planning to resume operations of unit 4 at the Takahama nuclear plant late February.
In 2015, Kyushu Electric Power restarted operations of the unit 1 and unit 2, each with a capacity of 890MW, at the Sendai nuclear power station in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan.
The commencement of unit 1 marked the resumption of first nuclear plant, following the Fukushima disaster which resulted in shutting down of all 48 nuclear plants in the country over safety concerns.
Additionally, Japan-based Shikoku Electric Power is planning to restart the unit 3 of the Ikata power plant in the next business year starting in April.
Japan aims to source 22% its total electricity supply from nuclear by 2030.
As part of this effort, about 20 reactors at 13 Japanese nuclear power plants are being assessed to ensure their compliance with the new safety standards.
Image: The Kansai Electric Power-operated Takahama nuclear power plant in Japan. Photo: courtesy of Hirorinmasa/Wikipedia.
