Fourteen reactors around the country have already been brought back online under tighter safety rules introduced after Fukushima. (AFP file photo)

Japan has moved a step closer to restarting the world’s largest nuclear power station after local authorities in Niigata approved the relaunch of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant.

It will be the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster that the facility’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), resumes activity at one of its nuclear sites. Final approval will still need to come from the national nuclear regulator.

On Friday, Niigata governor Hideyo Hanazumi announced that he was prepared to approve the restart, saying at a press briefing that he “would allow" the process to go ahead.

The vast plant, which covers around 400 hectares a

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