Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is set to resume operations at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant on January 20th. The station, located in Niigata Prefecture, is Japan's largest nuclear facility. The decision to restart comes amid Japan's ongoing energy policy discussions and TEPCO's long-term recovery planning following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

In Japan, nuclear energy is a sensitive and divisive issue due to the catastrophic Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011. The Japanese government, while promoting economic efficiency and carbon reduction targets, must balance those goals against strong public concern about nuclear safety.

In the US and EU, nuclear energy forms an important part of the energy mix, but it is likewise fraught with challenges. In the EU, some countries, like Germany, are phasing out nuclear power due to safety and environmental concerns, while others such as France heavily rely on it. The US, meanwhile, is grappling with aging nuclear infrastructure and growing renewable energy sectors.