nuclear-news

Business ahead of safety, as Japan waters down its nuclear power phaseout

Business leaders praised the Cabinet’s perceived backpedaling 

Japan Nuclear Phase-Out Plan Falls Apart HUFFINGTON POST, By MARI YAMAGUCHI 09/19/12 TOKYO — Japan’s Cabinet stopped short of a commitment Wednesday to phase out nuclear power by 2040, backtracking from an advisory panel’s recommendation in the face of opposition from pro-nuclear businesses and groups.

The decision came on the same day that Japan launched a new nuclear regulatory body to replace an agency whose links to the nuclear industry reportedly contributed to last year’s disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.

While not endorsing last week’s advisory panel report, the Cabinet did
vaguely agree to pursue its goals. The panel, acknowledging public
aversion to nuclear power since the Fukushima accident, urged that it
be phased out within three decades through greater reliance on
renewable energy, more conservation and sustainable use of fossil
fuels……
The Cabinet’s ambiguous endorsement added to criticism that the policy
revision may be aimed at winning votes in elections expected within
the next few months.

Business leaders praised the Cabinet’s perceived backpedaling…….
The new regulatory agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority,
inaugurated Wednesday was delayed for months by demands from
opposition lawmakers for more independence and by criticism of the
pro-nuclear background of some appointees. The five-member agency is
headed by nuclear physicist and Fukushima native Shunichi Tanaka, a
former executive of the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, which promotes
nuclear energy.

Tanaka, 67, has helped decontaminate areas around the Fukushima plant
that were exposed to radiation. But some residents criticize him for
downplaying the potential risk of low-dose radiation exposure.

The four other committee members are a former JAEA official, a
radiation expert, a seismologist and a former diplomat who took part
in a parliamentary investigation into the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda made the appointments without going
through required parliamentary approval to meet the committee’s Sept.
26 launch deadline, prompting widespread public protests……
To blunt outright opposition, the energy plan left many details
undecided, including the processing of spent fuel and disposal of
radioactive waste. That allows a fuel recycling program at a plant in
northern Japan to continue and leaves unanswered how Japan will avoid
accumulating stockpiles of spent plutonium in violation of
non-proliferation commitments.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/20/japan-nuclear-phase-out_n_1897452.html

September 21, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics