A second nuclear reactor in Japan was brought back online Thursday at the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, Kyushu, southwestern Japan, as the government continues its drive to resume operations as many plants as possible, despite ongoing protests concerning safety risks.

Following Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s No. 1 reactor being fully rebooted on Sept. 10, after initially going back online in August, marking the first nuclear power plant to resume full commercial operations following new safety regulations in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns, the utility reactivated the No. 2 reactor at its Sendai plant in Kagoshima.

Officials at the plant said the rector is expected to reach criticality at around 11 p.m. today at which point nuclear fission will become self-sustaining, but Kyushu Electric were warned by the local governor to pay the utmost heed to safety.

Kagoshima Governor Yuichiro Ito implored the utility to prioritize safety, warning that another accident like the Fukushima crisis at Tokyo Electric Power's Daichi plant in Fukushima, which led to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986 and remains the worst commercial disaster in history, would lead to an end to nuclear policy in Japan.

"Japan's nuclear policy will end should local residents be forced to evacuate in a grave accident. I think the Nuclear Regulation Authority screened the facility, fully aware of such a scenario, and the utility should share the same recognition in proceeding with reactivation," Ito was quoted as saying.

The president of the plant responded by saying that it would focus on safety above all else, as the plant gears up to be transmitting electricity to the grid on Oct. 21 after a final round of safety inspections, with an aim to resuming full commercial operations around the middle of November.

"We will continue to cooperate with the central government's inspection procedures and proceed with operational procedures at the plant by putting utmost priority on securing its safety," Michiaki Uriu, the president of Kyushu Electric Power said in a statement.

The government has been forced to spend an inordinate amount of its budget on importing fossil fuels to generate power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster that resulted in all of Japan's commercial reactors being taken off line for stricter safety checks and upgrades.

But the government has stood firm on its intentions to resume nuclear power generation, despite a public backlash and a two-year nuclear power interlude, and has said that plants that pass the nuclear watchdog's rigorous safety standards will be brought back online, as part of the governments plans to generate more than 20 percent of the nation's electricity supply from nuclear power by 2030, compared to around 30 percent before the Fukushima disaster, with the drive also underscored by new environmental quotas.

"There is no change in the government's policy of proceeding with the restart of reactors that are approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority as meeting the world's most stringent and newest regulations," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Japan's top government spokesperson said at a news conference Thursday.

The No. 3 reactor of Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata nuclear power plant in Ehime Prefecture, northwestern Shikoku, as well as the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, in the Chubu region on Honshu island, are among some of the candidates likely to be given the nod by the NRA to resume operations, followed by Kyushu Electric Power's resumption of operations of its No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture, in Kyushu.

But it's not all smooth sailing for the LDP's renewed energy mix policy, which will continue to heavily rely on nuclear power in the foreseeable future, as opposition parties, along with the public are still voicing their resistance.

Around 100 antinuclear protesters reportedly held a demonstration at the gates of the Sendai plant on Thursday, insisting the reactor's restarting be halted.

Yukio Edano of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, who in the wake of the 2011 disaster was very much the face of the government's efforts to combat the aftermath of the meltdowns and frequently appeared on TV to provide updates as the crisis unfolded, has publicly lambasted Kyushu Electric, as well as the NRA who approved the restarts.

He said that the LDP's push to bring all the nation's reactors back online was premature and that preparedness for evacuations are inadequate in the event of another nuclear accident. He also said that he could not understand the utility's and the government's rush to restart the reactors at the Sendai plant.

Despite the government heralding the NRA's new safety regulations as being "the toughest in the world", protests around the country have been fairly consistent and comprise antinuclear civic groups and private citizens opposed to bringing the nation's reactors back online.

Along with the public's post-Fukushima antinuclear sentiment, the government's move to expand the country's military role has also seen its support rate take a tumble.

The latest media polls show that the majority of Japanese citizens still oppose the restart of the reactors and this, along with Abe's contentious war moves, is weighing heavily on his support rate, which is hovering at an all-time low since he came to power for the second time in December 2012.

Source: Xinhuanet