nuclear-news

Doubtful that Japan’s nuclear industry will restart

Japan’s uncertain nuclear future  Australia Network News, 16 Sept 13 Japan has begun the process to become nuclear power-free for just third time in more than 40 years, after the country’s only reactor was disconnected from the power grid ahead of planned maintenance.

Nuclear power has provided about a third of Japan’s electricity, but the industry came to a virtual halt following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Kansai Electric Power will gradually take offline the No. 4 reactor at its Oi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture in western Japan.

The work was scheduled to start Sunday evening, with the reactor expected to stop power generation after several hours before coming to a complete stop early Monday.

The Kansai reactor was the only one of Japan’s 50 reactors in operation, although several operators have applied to restart their reactors under new rules which were developed following leaking at Fukushima.

The last time Japan went without nuclear power was in the period between May and June 2012 and that was the first shutdown since 1970. However, the nuclear-free energy is expected to only be temporary, with industry projections pointing to reactor restarts as soon as December.

But opinion polls show a majority of Japanese are opposed to restarts and want to end the country’s reliance on atomic power.

“The argument that no nuclear power dents the economy would be myopic, considering that if by mistake we had another tragedy like Fukushima, Japan would suffer from further collateral damage and lose global trust,” the head of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, Tetsunari Iida, said.

“In the new economy, the less you use energy, the more value-added you become. The big chorus for nuclear power is hampering the efforts to move to a new, more open economy.”.,….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-15/an-japan-nuclear-free/4958932

September 16, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | general