A nuclear reactor in western Japan began full operations Monday, the first restart since the country shut down its atomic stations in the wake of last year’s crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant

A nuclear reactor in western Japan began full operations Monday, the first restart since the country shut down its atomic stations in the wake of last year's crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
  
Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO), operator of the Oi power plant in the nation's industrial heartland, said its Unit No. 3 had come back to full capacity early Monday after the reactor was switched on earlier this month.
  
"The reactor has already shifted to a stable output mode without any trouble," a KEPCO spokesman said, adding that the utility plans to resume operations at another reactor in the same plant later this month.
  
The return to full operations ended a nearly two-month hiatus in the aftermath of the atomic crisis, but comes amid strong anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan which has seen protesters come out in their tens of thousands.
  
It also comes less than a week after a damning parliamentary report said the accident was a man-made disaster, marked by a lack of oversight and collusion between plant operator Tokyo Electric Power, the government and regulators.