nuclear-news

Japanese govt caving in to “nuclear village”, but nuclear future uncertain

Many experts, though, say the nuclear interests are unlikely to win the longer-term battle given the hidden costs of atomic power exposed by Fukushima and a new set of forces pushing for a bigger role for renewable sources of energy such as solar power.

“They (the nuclear interests) are fighting with their backs to the wall”

Reactor restarts, but Japan’s energy policy in flux The Asahi Shimbun, July 04, 2012 Buffeted by industry worries about high electricity costs on one side and public safety fears about nuclear power on the other, Japan’s leaders are still struggling to craft a coherent energy policy more than a year after the Fukushima disaster.

Critics say Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, whose top priority is raising the sales tax to curb bulging public debt, is caving in to Japan’s “nuclear village” — a powerful nexus of utilities,
bureaucrats and businesses — by restarting the first of Japan’s 50 reactors to come back on line since the crisis.

Kansai Electric Power Co’s No. 3 unit at its Oi plant, in western
Japan, will resume supplying power to the grid as early as July 5, and
its No. 4 unit will also restart this month, as the government seeks
to avoid a summer power crunch.

Many experts, though, say the nuclear interests are unlikely to win the longer-term battle given the hidden costs of atomic power exposed by Fukushima and a new set of forces pushing for a bigger role for renewable sources of energy such as solar power.
“They (the nuclear interests) are fighting with their backs to the wall … and assuming that after one restart, the rest will fall into
place,” said Martin Schulz, a senior researcher at Fujitsu Research
Institute. “But basically, there is very little they can do to turn
the clock back.”….
ENERGY PLAN SCRAPPED

Prompted by the Fukushima disaster to scrap a 2010 plan that would
have raised nuclear power’s share to more than half by 2030, the
government has begun seeking public comment on three medium-term
energy mix options — with the choice for atomic generation set at
either zero, 15 percent or 20-25 percent. Many see the 15 percent
solution as the most likely scenario……

“It’s very political. Kan was anti-nuclear but now Noda is accepting
nuclear power,” said Tatsuo Hatta, an economist and member of an
expert panel that drafted options for Japan’s energy mix.

“That could change,” he added, if political forces such as a local
party led by popular Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto — a fan of
deregulation and a critic of utilities — play a part in any new
government.  http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201207040066

July 5, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics