Japan’s election – winning candidates at odds on the future of nuclear power

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By RYUTARO ABE/ Staff Writer, November 3, 2021 According to a new survey, winning candidates in the ruling coalition in the Oct. 31 Lower House election differ greatly on the future of nuclear power in Japan.

Broken down by political parties, 72 percent of ruling Liberal Democratic Party winners supported nuclear power, the highest rate among parties, while just 9 percent of junior coalition partner Komeito victors did so.

The survey, jointly conducted by The Asahi Shimbun and a team led by Masaki Taniguchi, a professor of political science at the University of Tokyo, analyzed the political views of winners in the Lower House election.

For the survey, questionnaires were sent out from Sept. 2, and 448 of 465 election winners responded to them by Oct. 31. The response rate was 96.34 percent.

The survey asked the candidates which view they were leaning toward: “Abolish nuclear power immediately” or “Keep it as a power source for the future.”

Among the winners, those wanting to abolish nuclear power accounted for 19 percent, compared to 24 percent in the previous survey for the 2017 Lower House election.

Winners who favor maintaining nuclear power accounted for 45 percent, compared to 47 percent in the previous survey. Nearly half of the winners believe that nuclear power should remain as a source of power in the future.

Excluding the choice of “neither,” 13 percent of Komeito winners supported the abolition, 4 percentage points higher than those who support nuclear power.

t the time of the 2017 Lower House election, 33 percent of Komeito winners favored retaining nuclear power while no one supported abolishing it. In the new survey, many Komeito candidates drastically changed their stances.

Komeito, in its manifesto for the Lower House election, said, “We aim to achieve a nuclear-free society, not relying on nuclear power for the future.”

The survey also revealed differing stances on nuclear power among all the competing parties.

All the election winners of the Japanese Communist Party, Reiwa Shinsengumi and the Social Democratic Party supported pulling the plug on nuclear power, followed by victorious Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan members at 62 percent.

No winners of the Democratic Party for the People supported its abolition, while 27 percent supported nuclear power.

Thirty-nine percent of winners of Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) want to retain nuclear power, the second highest rate after that of the LDP victors. The previous survey in 2017 showed just 9 percent favored nuclear power.

The survey also asked candidates about releasing processed radioactive water collected at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant into the sea.

Sixty-two percent of all the winners viewed the water release into the sea as “inevitable.” The LDP and Komeito winners, who shared the view, accounted for 80 percent and 59 percent, respectively.

At the same time, 95 percent of Nippon Ishin winners support the release, the highest rate among parties, followed by DPP victors at 73 percent.

Sixty-five percent of CDP winners leaned toward opposing the release, but 10 percent said, “It is inevitable.”

November 4, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

China increasing its nuclear arsenal, but still far smaller than USA’s

China increasing nuclear arsenal much faster than was thought, Pentagon says . Guardian, China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than US officials predicted just a year ago, highlighting a broad and accelerating buildup of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass US global power by mid-century, according to a new Pentagon report.

The number of Chinese nuclear warheads could increase to 700 within six years, the report said, and may top 1,000 by 2030. The report released on Wednesday did not say how many weapons China has today, but a year ago the Pentagon said the number was in the “low 200s” and was likely to double by the end of this decade.

The numbers would still be significantly smaller than the current US nuclear stockpile of about 3,750 nuclear weapons. The Biden administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of its nuclear policy and has not said how that might be influenced by its China concerns………… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/03/china-increasing-nuclear-arsenal-much-faster-than-was-thought-pentagon-says

November 4, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Nuclear power for Bangladesh – a long, very costly, very dangerous process.

MV Ramana and Zia Mian: Bangladesh is on the way to having its first
nuclear power plant. Designed and being built by Russia at a cost of over
12 billion dollars, the Rooppur nuclear plant has been part of an
on-and-off planning process for six decades.

This sixty-year quest for constructing a reactor is blind to what has been learned over the same
period about nuclear energy.

It could take many more years before the plant
starts to produce any electricity. Intended to operate for sixty years,
electricity from this power plant will contribute to higher electricity
bills for Bangladeshi consumers for decades given the high cost of
construction.

The same amount of electricity could be had much cheaper and
much more quickly. Worse, for its sixty-year working life, and possibly for
longer, it will cast a shadow of a nuclear accident over the people of
Bangladesh, who will be forced to live with constant worry or try to just
forget. Even if an accident does not occur, the nuclear waste produced by
Rooppur will threaten people and nature for millennia with risk of
radioactive contamination. This is what it is now to be a nuclear-powered
nation.

Sarbojonkotha 3rd Nov 2021

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant: The Long, Troubled, Costly and Dangerous Life and After-Life of a Very Old Idea

November 4, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | ASIA, politics | Leave a comment

Japan’s election gives reprieve for nuclear sector.

Japan’s election gives reprieve for nuclear sector, Argus, By Motoko Hasegawa 1 November 2021

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) secured a victory in the 31 October general elections to the lower house of parliament. This allows the government to maintain its updated energy policy, which lays out plans to restart safe nuclear reactors to help reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The LDP secured a majority in Japan’s lower house after voting closed, without accounting for parliamentary seats secured by its junior coalition partner Komeito. This could make it easier for the LDP to push forward with its nuclear policy before the next general upper house election next year. Komeito had pledged to strictly adhere to the 40-year lifespan limit for reactors and a future no-nuclear society, as other opposition parties had insisted on.

LDP leader and prime minister Fumio Kishida and cabinet ministers last month endorsed a basic energy policy that did not include plans for construction or replacement of nuclear reactors and only focused on the restart of safe reactors. But the government did not directly prohibit building reactors, in a reprieve for the nuclear industry………….

Japan has restarted 10 nuclear reactors since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster closed all the country’s reactors to enhance their safety measures. But it will have to phase out existing reactors without any capacity additions. All Japanese reactors are allowed to operate for 40 years with a one-time option to extend their lifespan to 60 years under current nuclear safety rules. This has 15 of the existing 33 reactors with a combined capacity of 14,057MW closing by December 2030 and no operational reactors in 2050, assuming a 40-year lifespan. https://www.argusmedia.com/en/news/2269158-japans-election-gives-reprieve-for-nuclear-sector

November 2, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

U.S Suspends Nuclear Trade With Chinese Group

U.S 1. Suspends Nuclear Trade With Chinese Group, November 2021

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has suspended shipments of radioactive materials to China’s state-owned and -operated nuclear company, the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN). The action includes restrictions on deuterium, a hydrogen isotope used in nuclear reactors and boosted nuclear weapons.

Concerned about China’s growing nuclear weapons program, the NRC decided Sept. 27 that a suspension was “necessary to further the national security interests of the United States and to enhance the United States common defense and security consistent with the Atomic Energy Act of 1954.” ……………..

The United Kingdom is also planning to remove CGN from the nuclear power plant under construction in Suffolk by selling China’s 20 percent stake in the project. https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2021-11/news-briefs/us-suspends-nuclear-trade-chinese-group

November 2, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, China, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Fire at Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant

Last minute… Fire panic at Mersin Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant. It has
been reported that a fire broke out in the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant,
which is under construction in Mersin. Speaking about the fire, CHP’s Ali
Mahir Basarir said, “This nuclear power plant has been the scourge of
Mersin and Turkey.”

Cumhuriyet 31st Oct 2021

https://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/turkiye/son-dakika-mersin-akkuyu-nukleer-santralinde-yangin-panigi-1880975

November 2, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, Turkey | 1 Comment

N. Korea accuses U.S. of acquiescing in nuclear proliferation with double standards

N. Korea accuses U.S. of acquiescing in nuclear proliferation with ‘double standards‘All News October 31, 2021 SEOUL, (Yonhap) –– North Korea’s foreign ministry on Sunday accused the United States of “acquiescing” in nuclear proliferation around the world based on “double standards,” taking issue with the U.S.’ recent submarine deal with Australia and other policy moves.

The ministry made the accusations in an article, entitled “Is the U.S. really a guardian of the nuclear non-proliferation regime?,” claiming that the international community is paying attention to the U.S.’ “systematic” violation of the regime.

“The U.S. itself has ignored the principle of nuclear non-proliferation and allowed for double standards in line with their strategy for the domination of the world,” the ministry said in the writing.

The ministry stressed that the U.S. built and used nuclear arms for the first time in the world and took the first proliferation step by transferring technology for nuclear-powered submarines to Britain on the pretext of responding to threats from the then Soviet Union in the past.

The ministry also took note of the recent trilateral agreement among the U.S., Britain and Australia to equip Australia with “conventionally-armed” but nuclear-powered submarines. https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20211031004300325

November 1, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Why India’s nuclear ICBM test is counterproductive for tactical and strategic stability

Why India’s nuclear ICBM test is counterproductive for tactical and strategic stability, CGTN,
Hamzah Rifaat Hussain 31 Oct 21, On the threat of nuclear weapons during conflict, the rule is that skirmishes, tensions and conventional conflicts between countries need to be resolved through confidence-building measures and dialogue to prevent it from descending into the nuclear domain, when conversely, adding nuclear dimensions to tensions would only exacerbate trust deficits and threaten nuclear nonproliferation.

Despite this, better sense has not prevailed in New Delhi either on the results of Corps Commander-level talks or the decision to establish credible deterrence, given its decision to test a nuclear capable intercontinental missile (ICBM) called “Agni-5” amid tensions with China with a range of 5,000 kilometers on October 27.

The missile, which descended into the Bay of Bengal, is touted to have a high degree of accuracy, yet it belittles the significance of border talks with China, which was previously considered pivotal by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh.

Furthermore, India tackling China by strengthening its weapons systems will not resolve its numerous internal quagmires, which include a pandemic stricken economy and challenges to inclusivity. …………. https://news.cgtn.com/news/2021-10-31/Why-India-s-nuclear-ICBM-test-is-counterproductive-for-stability-14Oa6m7T9Xq/index.html

November 1, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Japan looks to renewables, role of nuclear elusive ahead of election

Oct 29, 2021

Japan aims to increase its reliance on renewable energy in achieving net-zero emissions, but the role of nuclear power to be played toward that end appears to be elusive even in the government’s energy plan approved by the Cabinet about a week ahead of Sunday’s general election.

The plan outlines ways to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and cut greenhouse gas emissions 46 percent in fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2013 levels, an ambitious leap from the previous reduction target of 26 percent.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (C) visits the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan during a visit to areas affected by the March 2011 earthquake-tsunami disaster on Oct. 17, 2021.

The government aims to have renewables account for 36 to 38 percent of Japan’s total power generation capacity in fiscal 2030, more than double the 18 percent recorded in fiscal 2019, while the percentage of fossil-fuel-fired thermal power has been slashed to 41 percent, down from 76 percent.

But the percentage for nuclear power remains unchanged at 20 to 22 percent from the previous plan, released in 2018.

The status of many nuclear plants in 2030 and thereafter is unclear considering the facilities’ 40-year operating limit and other regulatory hurdles, and there has been no public consensus on whether the country should continue to use nuclear power beyond 2050 either.

Yudai Maeda, an executive of renewable energy firm afterFIT Co., said people’s emotional reactions toward nuclear issues have somewhat subsided from the years after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and voter interests have been taken over by the coronavirus pandemic.

*Yudai Maeda, an executive of afterFIT Co., speaks in an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 2021.*

“Major issues in the election are more like how to restore the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic,” Maeda said.

A recent Kyodo News poll showed 36.7 percent will decide on who to vote for in the general election based on economic policies, while 16.1 percent said coronavirus measures were paramount.

Tsutomu Miyasaka, a professor of biomedical engineering at Toin University of Yokohama and pioneering researcher on thin and flexible solar cells, also believes energy and environmental issues should attract attention, just as climate change was one of the key issues for German voters in their September election.

*Tsutomu Miyasaka, a professor at the Faculty of Medical Engineering at Toin University of Yokohama, holds a perovskite solar module in an interview in Yokohama on Oct. 27, 2021.*

A report by the U.N. Environment Programme released this week warned that the average global temperature could rise 2.7 C by the end of the century despite various climate pledges and mitigation steps.

That is well above the aspirational goal of the Paris Agreement — to keep global warming below 1.5 C this century over pre-industrial levels.

The international organization also said that whether the world can meet the goal of avoiding potential catastrophe hinges on efforts by humanity to halve annual greenhouse gas emissions in the next eight years.

Net-zero commitments, declared by 49 nations, including Japan, and the European Union could shave off another 0.5 C, if these pledges were made robust and if 2030 promises were made consistent with the net-zero commitments.

“Climate change is no longer a future problem. It is a now problem,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of UNEP, ahead of the upcoming U.N. climate change conference known as COP26. “The clock is ticking loudly.”

To achieve the 2030 emissions cut target, Maeda said nuclear power plants are necessary. However, Japanese political parties cannot agree on what to do with nuclear plants even though they agree on the country’s direction toward carbon neutrality.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said his Liberal Democratic Party will restart idled nuclear plants, providing they have adequate safety measures, in order to supply electricity stably and at a reasonable price.

In contrast, the major opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan pledges to abandon nuclear power as soon as possible and will not allow any new nuclear plants to be built.

The Democratic Party for the People, a smaller opposition party, has said it will restart nuclear plants that cleared safety rules but will not allow the construction of new ones.

Following the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, most of the nuclear plants in Japan remain offline under stricter safety regulations.

“Realistically, I think (Japan) cannot help but to heavily rely on nuclear and solar power to achieve that 2030 goal,” said Maeda, a former Foreign Ministry official.

He stressed nuclear should not be a long-term power supply given the tremendous amount of money needed in the event of an accident and falling renewable energy costs.

In the long run, energy experts have high expectations for offshore wind power.

“Producing large quantities of electricity from renewables requires a vast amount of space. Since Japan is a maritime nation with the world’s sixth-largest exclusive economic zone, it’s got to be offshore wind,” he said, adding floating turbines will hold the key.

Solar cells produced by Miyasaka, also a fellow at the University of Tokyo’s Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology, are expected to contribute to improving the space problem for renewables if they overcome durability challenges and go into commercial mass production.

Miyasaka’s perovskite solar modules are thin, flexible, and light yet capable of generating high voltages compared with silicon photovoltaics, with their characteristics enabling them to be installed or applied on unconventional places, including low load-bearing roofs, windows and automobile bodies.

In the not too distant future, Miyasaka believes people will be able to generate power by perovskite solar modules on places such as balcony floors and car bodies, store it in batteries and then use it during the night.

In building such a society, Miyasaka said the reliance on nuclear power could be reduced soon rather than later because disaster-prone Japan faces higher risks than many other countries.

“It is time for us to seriously engage in finding ways to live without nuclear power plants,” he said.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2021/10/604995b5eef2-focus-japan-looks-to-renewables-role-of-nuclear-elusive-ahead-of-election.html

October 30, 2021 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Election, renewables | Leave a comment

Japan PM’s nuclear push faces resistance ahead of election

Oct 28, 2021

KASHIWAZAKI, Japan – A decade after triple meltdowns at Fukushima forced mass evacuations and a shut-down of the nuclear industry, Japan has restarted only a third of its 33 operable reactors

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s push to restart Japanese nuclear power plants idled after the Fukushima disaster faces stiff opposition ahead of a
general election on Sunday, October 31, where his future as leader hangs in
the balance if the vote is tight.

A decade after triple meltdowns at Fukushima forced mass evacuations and a shut-down of the nuclear industry, Japan has restarted only a third of its 33 operable reactors.

Debate over whether to fire more of them back up is highly charged, with 40% of the population opposing the move.

It matters most in rural cities hosting the idled plants which had once relied on them for economic activity, such as Kashiwazaki, 265 km (165 miles) northwest of Tokyo – home to the world’s largest atomic power complex.

“The reason why we feel so strongly about this is because we feel the danger of the nuclear power plant – it hangs over our heads every day,” said Mie Kuwabara, a resident of a town close to Kashiwazaki and anti-nuclear activist.

Voters mostly care about economic recovery from the pandemic. But energy policy came into sharp focus last month, when Kishida beat a popular anti-nuclear candidate in the race for the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) chief.

The architect of Kishida’s victory, party veteran Akira Amari, assumed a key party post and immediately pushed for restarts of 30 reactors while also promoting new, smaller reactors to replace aging ones.

Amari says Japan must revert to nuclear power to meet its 2050 carbon neutrality pledge, avoid rapidly rising prices of imported coal and gas and to cut its reliance on other countries for energy needs.

Amari faces a tight race in his home district, where he is struggling to attract support from anti-nuclear junior coalition partner, Komeito.

Opposition to his plan is strong in Kashiwazaki too.

“This prefecture as a whole, even within the LDP, is united behind the idea that the nuclear power plant can’t be restarted,” said Mineo Ono, who runs the LDP’s local chapter where anti-nuclear proponent Taro Kono polled higher than Kishida in the leadership race vote.

Ono cited local distrust caused by what he called multiple mishaps by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Holdings (Tepco).

The nuclear regulator upended plans for a restart of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which can power 24 million households, in April, after identifying operational issues including faulty intruder detection alarms and the misuse of ID cards.

Nation-wide, restarts have been delayed by technical issues, lawsuits and regulatory reviews.

Tepco in an emailed statement apologized and said it would work to regain the trust of locals. It added that while nuclear energy is instrumental in achieving carbon neutrality, the time is not right to discuss restarts.

That poses a problem for the LDP, which polls show is on the brink of losing its simple majority, an outcome that would still let it cling to power thanks to the coalition with Komeito, but that may lead to a push inside the party to oust Kishida.

The government said in its latest energy policy on Friday it would double 2020 levels of renewable energy to 38%, but has maintained nuclear power will provide some 22% of the country’s energy by 2030, up from 6% in the 2018 financial year.

‘Dividing factor’

Kashiwazaki, a town of 80,000, sits on the coast of the Sea of Japan. In the evening, buses unload workers maintaining the complex around the main train station.

“We host the world’s biggest nuclear plant, but that energy goes mostly to Tokyo and its surrounding regions. Locals feel deeply about that,” LDP’s Ono said. There is a ‘divide’ between the sentiment of the locals and people in Tokyo, he said.

A restart is critical for Tepco, which needs money to fund the clean-up at its Fukushima plant. Restarting two reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa would save an estimated $880 million per year in fuel costs, it says.

But even the local chamber of commerce, instrumental in wooing the plant which started operations in 1985, says it is tired of what it sees as Tepco’s repeated failures.

“It’s almost unbearable, seeing how shoddy they are,” said chamber of commerce chief Masao Saikawa.

To allay these fears, Kenichi Hosoda, the LDP candidate in the district who serves as the vice minister at the Ministry of Industry overseeing energy policy, has toned down his pro-nuclear message.

“Now is not the time to discuss the issue,” he told Reuters after a recent rally held near the plant.

In response to a question on why discussions on the nuclear plant have been toned down before the vote, local LDP leader Ono spoke of “a large group of swing voters who the candidates have to capture.”

“When it comes down to it, the issue of nuclear energy will be the dividing factor. It’s a fact that the nuclear element has an influence,” said Ono. – Rappler.com

https://www.rappler.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-pms-nuclear-push-faces-resistance-ahead-of-election

October 30, 2021 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP, Restart, Tepco | Leave a comment

Nuclear has no place in Taiwan

While aiming for this ambitious goal, it is also paramount that the government considers national security, energy autonomy and the development of sustainable energy sources.

As a result, we need to focus our energies on developing renewables to achieve a green transition, and nuclear energy has no part in this.

https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2021/10/30/2003766999, By Pan Wei-yiu 潘威佑 Translated by Paul Cooper The public must be confused about the issue of whether it is appropriate to restart construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Gongliao District (貢寮). The site has been sealed up for a long time, and the fuel rods have been shipped overseas. So why is a referendum needed on whether to restart construction of the mothballed plant?

The truth is that the plant has become something of a political ATM. If a political party wants to make it an issue for its own political benefit, it resurrects the debate.

However, not only is restarting construction of the plant inappropriate, it is imperative that the government remain committed to its policy of achieving a “nuclear-free homeland.”

There are three reasons that it is not appropriate to restart construction

First, with the development of any energy source, the protection of lives and property is paramount.

For Taiwan, a densely populated nation in an earthquake zone, if there were to be a nuclear accident, people would have to evacuate quickly. The harm and fear such an event would bring is difficult to imagine.

Second, from a purely economic point of view, construction of the plant, which commenced in 1999, has already cost more than NT$283.8 billion (US$10.2 billion) and the facilities that have been added are up to two decades old. Many of the components have degraded and no longer work.

If construction is to be restarted, those components would need to be replaced, a process that would take a lot of time and money — as a rough estimate, at least a decade and NT$80 billion.

It is questionable whether this process would be sufficient to provide the energy requirements for the rapid development in Taiwan.

Third, there is the question of environmental justice. Where is the nuclear waste to be stored? Nobody has proposed a satisfactory answer to this question. No one would accept having the waste near their home.

In the past, environmental justice was not taken seriously, but that does not mean this state of affairs should continue.

Restarting construction of the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant would be unsafe, uneconomical and unjust.

Would Taiwan suffer from electricity shortages if it continues to progress to a non-nuclear homeland? This is the unfounded argument pushed by pro-nuclear groups.

According to electricity generation figures in a Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) report this year, the proportion of electricity generated from nuclear sources has fallen over the years, providing only 12.7 percent of the nation’s electricity last year.

If Taiwan could increase the percentage of renewable energy sources to 20 percent of the total energy mix by 2025, nuclear power would be a nonissue.

Additionally, if the percentage of renewable energy sources continues to increase, as is planned, Taiwan would no longer require nuclear power

The world has reached a consensus that the way to mitigate climate change is by reducing carbon emissions. Countries the world over are calling for net-zero emissions by 2050, and Taiwan has also committed to this target.

While aiming for this ambitious goal, it is also paramount that the government considers national security, energy autonomy and the development of sustainable energy sources.

As a result, we need to focus our energies on developing renewables to achieve a green transition, and nuclear energy has no part in this.

In the interests of achieving environmental sustainability, many Taiwanese companies have joined the RE100 global initiative to achieve 100 percent of power from renewable sources by 2050. Again, nuclear power is not part of the plan.

In response to the rapid changes and challenges of international political and economic trends, and the energy environment, the world is going through a crucial period of energy transformation.

Green energy technologies and energy conservation development are the major drivers of this transition around the world. Even though the development of renewable energy sources is difficult, it is incumbent that nations rise to the challenge and meet the responsibility to later generations.

It is also the way for Taiwan to truly become a “green island” nation.

Pan Wei-yiu is secretary-general of the Northern Taiwan Society.

October 30, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, Taiwan | Leave a comment

Indonesia wants non-peaceful nuclear submarines to be subject to nuclear non-proliferation treaty (surprise, surprise, Australia doesn’t agree)

Caution over nuclear treaty covering subs, Canberra Times, Dominic Giannini, 29 Oct 21,

Caution over nuclear treaty covering subs, Canberra Times, Dominic Giannini, 29 Oct 21,

Australian officials say they don’t believe there is merit in expanding the nuclear non-proliferation treaty to nuclear-powered submarines.

Indonesian officials have said they would seek a “fourth pillar” to include the non-peaceful usage of nuclear technology, closing a “loophole” exposed by Australia’s nuclear-submarine deal with the US and UK.

They say other countries could seek to follow Australia, which would be the first non-nuclear weapons state to acquire nuclear submarines.

Foreign affairs department officials rejected the need to expand the treaty, saying the acquisition of nuclear-propelled submarines was in accordance with Australia’s non-proliferation requirements……

The Indonesians raised concerns about the potential for an arms race in the region after Australia announced its plans to acquire nuclear-powered submarines through the AUKUS partnership…….. https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7488125/caution-over-nuclear-treaty-covering-subs/

October 30, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Indonesia, politics international | Leave a comment

World without nuclear weapons remains a goal after Sunao Tsuboi’s death

October 29, 2021 (Mainichi Japan) Sunao Tsuboi, a champion of the anti-nuclear movement, has died at age 96. He had served as a representative member of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations and chairman of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations. For many years, Tsuboi led nuclear disarmament activism and dedicated his life to calling for a world without nuclear weapons, while telling himself and others to “never give up.”

Tsuboi himself was a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. He continued to share his experience, revealing the inhumaneness of nuclear arms………..

It was because Tsuboi and other hibakusha persistently shared stories about their experiences outside Japan that the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons became widely known across the world. And this led to the enforcement of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans nuclear arms and related activities.

When then U.S. President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima as the first sitting U.S. president to do so in May 2016, Tsuboi said to him, “It (dropping the atomic bomb) was one of the mistakes humanity made. We have to overcome that, and head for the future.”

These words stemmed from Tsuboi’s desire for peace, based on his belief that hatred is fruitless.

Grave challenges still remain after Tsuboi’s departure………..

The number of hibakusha has now declined to about 127,000 and their average age is approaching 84. Anti-nuclear activist and hibakusha Sumiteru Taniguchi, who led the movement in Nagasaki, the second city to be bombed in 1945, passed away in 2017. We will eventually enter a time when there are no hibakusha left in the world.

“An uphill path may continue, but I’m not going to give up and I’ll continue working on eliminating these dreadful weapons from the world,” Tsuboi once said. Succeeding generations must take the baton from him. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20211029/p2a/00m/0op/028000c

October 30, 2021 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Prospects for renewable energy in Japan look good, future for nuclear power uncertain.

Japan looks to renewables; role of nuclear power elusive, Japan Today By Takaki Tominaga, TOKYO, 29 Oct 21,

Japan aims to increase its reliance on renewable energy in achieving net-zero emissions, but the role of nuclear power to be played toward that end appears to be elusive even in the government’s energy plan approved by the cabinet last week ahead of Sunday’s general election.

The plan outlines ways to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and cut greenhouse gas emissions 46 percent in fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2013 levels, an ambitious leap from the previous reduction target of 26 percent.

The government aims to have renewables account for 36 to 38 percent of Japan’s total power generation capacity in fiscal 2030, more than double the 18 percent recorded in fiscal 2019, while the percentage of fossil-fuel-fired thermal power has been slashed to 41 percent, down from 76 percent.

But the percentage for nuclear power remains unchanged at 20 to 22 percent from the previous plan, released in 2018………………