All Japan's nuclear plants were gradually shut down after a series of
meltdowns at the Fukushima plant sparked by the tsunami and earthquake.
But
after passing stringent new safety tests, Kyushu Electric Power
restarted the number one reactor at its Sendai plant on Tuesday morning.
There is still strong public unease about a return to nuclear power.
Protests
have been taking place outside the Sendai plant and at Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe's residence in Tokyo, about 1,000 km (600 miles) away.
Rupert Wingfield-Hayes in Tokyo says that after being told a
disaster like Fukushima could never happen, public confidence has been
shaken.
A total of 25 plants have applied to be restarted, he says, but all are facing legal challenges from concerned locals.
What is happening inside the Sendai reactor?
'Safety first'
Kyushu said reactor No.1 at Sendai began operating again at 10:30 local time (01:30 GMT).
TV images showed the plant's control room as workers turned the reactor back on.
Kyushu Electric spokesman Tomomitsu Sakata said the reactor had gone back online without any problems.
It will be about 24 hours before a full reaction takes place, and the
plant is expected to start generating power by Friday. It will reach
full capacity some time next month.
Prime Minister Abe said on Monday that the reactors had passed "the world's toughest safety screening".
"I would like Kyushu Electric to put safety first and take utmost precautions for the restart," he said.
Since shutting down all nuclear plants, Japan has been relying on
imported fossil fuels for its energy, at huge expense. The government
has said nuclear power must resume to cut both import bills and growing
CO2 emissions.
Experts have also warned that reactors left idle
for years tend to experience teething problems and that such a mass
restart of dormant reactors has never been attempted before, says our
correspondent.
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority approved two
reactors at the Sendai plant last September under stricter safety rules.
The second reactor is due to be restarted in October.
More than $100m (£64m) has been spent on fitting new safety systems at the Sendai plant.
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