Reactor buildings and water storage tanks are seen at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Japan, on March 5, 2022 -- nearly 11 years after a massive earthquake caused a devastating meltdown at the plant.
Rising popular support for nuclear energy will make it politically easier for Japan to restart some of its reactors, but Tokyo will nonetheless struggle to hit its nuclear power-related goals in its climate and energy strategies. A poll released in March by the Japanese outlet Nikkei found that 53% of respondents supported restarting nuclear power plants, compared with 44% in a similar poll released in September. Nikkei has carried out the poll semiannually since 2011 and the March 2022 poll was the first to find a majority supporting restarting nuclear reactors. In the wake of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami that caused three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to meltdown, Japan shut down all of its 54 nuclear reactors to increase safety standards and reform its nuclear safety and security regulations.
