Japan to bring first nuke plant online since Fukushima disaster

A boy stands near candles during an anti-nuclear event at the protesters' campsite near Kyushu Electric Power's Sendai nuclear power station in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima prefecture, Japan, August 8, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

While Japan's top government spokesperson, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told a press conference Monday that the government supports the restarting of nuclear plants that had cleared safety checks, stating: "Restarting nuclear plants that have been confirmed safe is important in our energy policy, which places nuclear power as a key electricity source," the move was blasted by the main opposition party.

Yukio Edano, secretary general of the Democratic Party of Japan, lambasted the utility, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) who approved the restart, and the main Liberal Democratic Party's push to bring all the nation's reactors back online, saying: "It is clear that preparedness for evacuation is not enough in the event of a nuclear accident. I do not believe that there is any necessity now to rush to restart of the reactor at the Sendai plant," Edano told a press conference.

Despite the government heralding the NRA's new safety regulations as being "the toughest in the world," protests erupted around the country Monday comprising antinuclear civic groups and private citizens opposed to the restart, as the latest media polls showed that the majority of Japanese citizens oppose the restart -- the green lighting of which has caused Abe's support rate to plummet even further, following his forcing of contentious war bills through parliament recently to augment the scope of Japan's military.

According to a poll taken by the Mainichi Shimbun and released Monday, support for Abe, who is facing a party leadership election next month, has dropped 3 points to 32 percent, the lowest since he came into office for the second time in December 2012.

Of those polled by the popular daily, 57 percent said they were opposed to Kyushu Electric Power Co. restarting operations at its Sendai plant, with only 30 percent supporting the reboot.