The decade-long nuclear winter is thawing in Japan after the...

The decade-long nuclear winter is thawing in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima disaster froze the country's nuclear power industry. Now, government authorities are taking steps to restart nuclear power plants.

Bloomberg reports Tokyo Electric Power Co. shares jumped 14.6% on Monday, closing at the highest levels since 2015. Shares are up more than 41% since late November. The reason for all this optimism comes as Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority recently stated it will make a final decision on restarting the utility's Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant.

Before the nuclear regulatory authority can decide, an on-site inspection by officials and a meeting with Tepco's president are necessary. The head of the agency said last week that a decision about Kashiwazaki Kariwa could come as early as the end of the year.

"This is the clearest signal yet that the regulator could soon reverse the order, which it implemented in 2021 after serious security missteps were found at the facility," Bloomberg said last week.

As energy costs from fossil fuels surge, Japan's reassessment of its nuclear power policies, following over a decade of stagnation since the Fukushima incident, has been reassessed: