page_title: Nuclear power in Japan
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Nuclear power in Japan / History
context_page_description: Prior to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan had generated 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors and planned to increase that share to 40%. Nuclear power energy was a national strategic priority in Japan.
  As of March 2020, of the 54 nuclear reactors in Japan, there were 42 operable reactors but only 9 reactors in 5 power plants were actually operating. A total of 24 reactors are scheduled for decomissioning or in the process or being decomissioned.
  Though all of Japan's nuclear reactors successfully withstood shaking from the Tohoku earthquake, flooding from the ensuing tsunami caused the failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on 11 March 2011.
  Japan's first-ever nuclear emergency was declared, and 140,000 residents within 20 km of the plant were evacuated.
  All Japan's nuclear plants were closed, or their operations suspended for safety inspections. The last of Japan's fifty-four reactors went offline for maintenance on 5 May 2012, leaving Japan completely without nuclear-produced electrical power for the first time since 1970.
caption: Japan has steadily increased its nuclear generation over time. A dip in 2003 was due to TEPCO data falsification scandals in 2002 and caused a poor operating record.
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