Japan is on track to re-start the world’s largest nuclear reactor for the first time in nearly 15 years. It's part of a broader return to nuclear power, not only in Japan, but also around the Asia Pacific.
In March 2011, the most powerful earthquake in Japan’s recorded history created a tsunami that swept over the Tohoku region — northeast of Tokyo — and killed nearly 20,000 people, crippling the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The disaster resulted in the release of radioactive contamination and led Japan’s government to shut down all 54 of its commercial nuclear reactors in the country for extended safety inspections.
Only 33 are considered safe to operate — and so far, the government has restarted just 14 of them.
Elsewhere in the region, others are pushing ahead faster with nuclear energy.
Last week, the World Nuclear Association reported about 70 nuclear reactors are under construction. The group reports most of those are in Asia.
The majority are in China, with about 34 under construction. India has half a dozen under construction.
Just last week, India's parliament passed a measure allowing foreign companies to invest in the sector — broadening its access to financing.
In South Korea, nearly a third of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear power, and three more reactors are under construction.
