Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan protests with local people in front of the Sendai nuclear plant. After almost two years nuclear free, the owner of the power plant, Kyushu Electric Power Company, decided to switch on the Sendai reactor unit 1. There has been significant opposition to the restart of Japan’s 43 nuclear plants, however the government is allowing utilities companies to restart their ageing nuclear reactors despite unresolved seismic and volcanic safety issues.