nuclear-news

The plan is Tepco’s second attempt at proposing a new path forward. The first plan was discarded after it was made clear that the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant could not be restarted, which would help relieve the cost of using fossil fuels to generate power. The new plan involves switching back on some of the reactors at the Kashiwazaki plant, which is the largest in the world.

Tepco, Japan’s largest utility, is under huge financial pressure and is fighting to survive. The company is majority owned by the Japanese government after receiving a previous bailout. If the company goes under it could have ripple effects across Japan’s fragile economy.

The new plan also makes deeper cuts to operation costs and staff than the previous version…….

Before restarting the Kashiwazaki reactor, Tepco must get permission from local politicians, including the local governor in Niigata, Hirohiko Izumida. According to Agence France-Presse “Governor Hirohiko Izumida remains critical of TEPCO, and has demanded the utility first explain to him exactly what happened at the Fukushima plant before seeking his permission to restart reactors in his region.”

The Japanese government recently admitted that it was hopelessly behind in the Fukushima cleanup schedule, which will take decades to dismantle and require the use of new technologies……..

The removal of nuclear energy from Japan’s energy mix has also helped lead to a revival of solar power, with the country experiencing a projected 350 percent solar market growth from 2012 to 2013. Need for land, lack of grid access, and lack of qualified engineers and construction companies is what’s holding back further growth. Japan was already expected to be the world’s largest solar market in terms of revenue last year.http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/16/3171861/japan-tepco-nuclear-revival/