nuclear-news

Japanese business leaders do not like nuclear power

Japan Inc not as keen as Abe government on nuclear power – Reuters poll TOKYO | BY TETSUSHI KAJIMOTO AND YUKA OBAYASHI  Sun May 24, 2015 Two-thirds of Japanese companies want and expect a lesser role for nuclear power than the government is targeting, a Reuters survey showed, reflecting persistent concerns about safety four years after the Fukushima disaster.

All of the country’s 43 operable reactors are offline – the result of a tougher safety regime introduced after an earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima plant, causing meltdowns, explosions and plumes of radioactivity.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government last month proposed bringing nuclear energy back to account for 20-22 percent of the nation’s electricity mix by 2030, seeking to reduce Japan’s huge reliance on imported fossil fuels and lift the economy out of two decades of anaemic growth.

But slightly more than two-thirds of firms in the Reuters Corporate Survey, conducted May 7-19, saw levels of less than 20 percent as appropriate and realistically achievable given strong public opposition.

“Some nuclear power stations may resume operations, but it will be difficult to expect as many restarts as the government and utilities want,” a corporate manager at a machinery company wrote……..

A Reuters analysis last year indicated that as few as a third, and at most about two-thirds, of Japan’s reactors are ever likely to pass today’s more stringent safety checks and clear other seismological, economic, logistical and political hurdles needed to restart.

A third of reactors back online would be roughly equivalent to nuclear energy accounting for 10 percent of the country’s electricity supply while two-thirds would be about 20 percent…….

The corporate survey, conducted for Reuters by Nikkei Research, polled 481 large and mid-sized companies. Around 230, which responded anonymously, answered questions on nuclear energy prospects.

PUBLIC OPPOSITION

Most public opinion polls have put opposition to nuclear restarts at about two-to-one over support.

Local residents and activists are seeking to block the restart of all five reactors certified as meeting new safety standards from the Nuclear Regulation Authority – making it hard to predict the timing of resumption of operations.

The restart of one, the Takayama plant owned by Kansai Electric Power (9503.T), has been delayed indefinitely after a court sided with activists. The first restart could be the Sendai plant owned by Kyushu Electric Power (9508.T) but the regulator has said company plans for that to happen in mid-July are too optimistic as it needs to finalise its review……http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/05/24/uk-japan-companies-nuclear-idUKKBN0O910A20150524

May 27, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear