Japan has approved the partial restart of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power station, the world’s biggest, more than a decade after its closure following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, as the country returns to nuclear energy to address rising power costs.

Approval by Niigata prefecture governor Hideyo Hanazumi will remove the last major hurdle for plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to proceed with plans to restart “one or two” of Kashiwazaki Kariwa’s seven units, reports said.

Other reports said the clearance was for one unit, likely to be Unit 6. Earlier reports said Tepco would focus on restarting Unit 6 at the seven-unit facility, in western Japan. Fuel loading at Unit 6 was completed in June.