Japan on Tuesday switched on a nuclear reactor, officials said, ending a two-year shutdown in the energy-hungry country that was sparked by public fears following the 2011 Fukushima crisis, the worst atomic disaster in a generation.

"The reactor No 1 at the Sendai nuclear power plant started operating at 10:30 am (0130 GMT)," said a spokesman for Kyushu Electric Power, which operates the reactor about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo.