A Japanese regional governor on Friday gave the green light for a partial restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the world’s biggest, as Japan tries to revive its nuclear sector and reduce fossil fuel imports.

Approval by Niigata Prefecture Governor Hideyo Hanazumi will remove the last major hurdle for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) to proceed with plans to restart one or two of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa’s biggest reactors.

Growing Electricity Demand

As electricity demand is set to grow due to data center and semiconductor business expansion, “it would be difficult to stop something that passed the country’s regulatory standards without any rational reason,” Hanazumi told a briefing.

Hanazumi said he would need to seek the prefectural assembly’s vote of confi

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