Tokyo (CNN) — A Japanese power company restarted a nuclear reactor this week, the first to come back online since a March earthquake and tsunami in the nation.

The March 11 disasters sparked a nuclear crisis and a backlash that postponed plans to reopen reactors shut down because of damage, inspections or unrelated technical problems.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it has started generating electricity from the No. 4 reactor late Tuesday at the Genkai nuclear power plant in western Japan.

The nuclear reactor was taken offline in October after technical problems.

Company officials won approval from a local governor and a mayor to bring the reactor online, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported.

Nuclear safety critics criticized the reopening, with the power company receiving more than 200 calls Tuesday from citizens who opposed the move.

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TOKYO (Xinhua) — Japanese government has decided to ban all shipments of beef cattle from northeast Miyagi Prefecture as early as Thursday over fears of radioactive contamination, local media reported Thursday.  Radioactive contamination of Japanese beef has become a growing concern since the Fukushima Daiich power plant melted down this past spring.  Radioactive particles tend to accumulate in larger herbivores due to the fact that they eat trace amounts of radiation from fallout that collects on the plants they eat.

Amounts of radioactive cesium exceeding permissible level had been detected in beef from six head of cattle in the prefecture. Miyagi had shipped a total of 1,031 head of beef cattle reported to be fed rice straw tainted with radioactive cesium.