Hitachi boss just like proverbial general fighting the last war

A new nuclear power plant planned by Horizon Nuclear Power Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd., would have been situated on the island of Anglesey in Wales

January 19, 2019

“Generals always fight the last war” is an aphorism meaning that military leaders tend to draw upon their experiences from the previous war when planning a new strategy.

Their strategy is doomed to failure because of their inability to keep up with the times by staying abreast of technological renovations and exploring new types of warfare.

Their counterparts seem to exist in present-day Japan.

Trying to “fight the last war,” such individuals are to be found among nuclear plant manufacturers as well as within the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Apparently, they cannot forget the good old 2000s, the era of global “Nuclear Renaissance.”

Memories of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl were starting to fade into oblivion then, and that helped revive nuclear plant construction. And with the nuclear industry becoming energized in various countries, Japan was determined to grab a share of the pie, and both the public and private sectors joined forces to push nuclear plant export.

And unbelievably, they keep this up even after the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011.

Did they believe the Fukushima disaster would have little impact on the rest of the world?

They were utterly wrong, of course. Nuclear plant construction costs skyrocketed due to reinforced safety standards.

One after another, export projects were aborted. A Hitachi project in Britain was frozen. Losses amounting to 300 billion yen wiped out the bulk of annual profit.

It is hard to believe that Japanese industry and the government, which bear grave responsibility for the Fukushima disaster, could have been so oblivious to change.

Or could it be that they were simply unable to think straight because they could not find a business they could sell to the rest of the world?

Hitachi Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi is also chairman of Keidanren (Japan Business Federation). At a recent news conference, Nakanishi created a stir by strongly advocating restarts of off-line nuclear reactors.

Is he growing frustrated and impatient over stalled exports? He obviously is totally out of touch with Japanese public opinion that has grown sensitive to the risks inherent in nuclear power generation.

I am convinced Nakanishi is the proverbial general who keeps fighting the last war.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201901190015.html?fbclid=IwAR0oGSkbBdKlzfhpB8mYoSajCUrMriM0IWmr7r_2PWwNi3DJ_kUP27QkCI8

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