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Japan’s Nuclear Dilemma

Nuclear or not to nuclear: Japan struggles with the question Guardian By Mark Halper | September 20, 2012, they say a week is a long time in politics. Make that 5 days.

That’s how long it took the Japanese government to back off its statement last Friday that it would completely phase out nuclear power by 2040.

“We are going to begin an extremely difficult challenge,” declared Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in announcing the plan as reported by The Guardian newspaper on Sept. 14   . ”No matter how diffiicult it is, we can no longer put it off.”

Well, it seems there’s extremely difficult, and then there’s really, really extremely difficult. By yesterday, the language from Tokyo had transformed from bold determination into sheepish second thoughts. “Japan has effectively abandoned a commitment to end its reliance on nuclear power by 2040,” The Guardian wrote . The about face came as Japan’s Cabinet “gave only a vague endorsement” of a report that provided the basis for last Friday’s no-more-nukes declaration.

The report had called for renewable energy like wind and solar to comprise 30 percent of the country’s energy mix – the same proportion that nuclear had contributed prior to shut downs following the Fukushima meltdowns last year, and an eightfold increase from 2010 renewables levels. The plan also relied on sustainable fossil fuel technologies, professing that, “We will launch all possible policy measures to achieve a nuclear-free society by the 2030s.”

But as The Guardian noted, the Cabinet’s tepid endorsement yesterday “dropped any mention of plans to complete the phase-out some time in the 2030s.”….. The prevarication reflects strong public opposition to nuclear, versus pressure from business and industry which says that the shut down will drive up energy costs and force companies to relocate operations to foreign countries….. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/nuclear-or-not-to-nuclear-japan-struggles-with-the-question/635

September 21, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general