Many have never been able to return and rebuild. On March 11, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown at a nuclear plant in Fukushima, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee. There is deep skepticism over the feasibility and wisdom of the government's plans, however.Įxperts point to the enormous regulatory hurdles and potential legal challenges from local communities that could get in the way, along with the prospect of huge cost overruns for building new plants.Īnd despite the recent polls suggesting a level of public support, there is also the issue of regaining wide-scale confidence in nuclear power, as Japan continues to reel from the aftermath of one the world's worst nuclear disasters. "But now, there's a sense that perhaps there's more of an opening to push forward with nuclear as one of the pillars of Japan's energy strategy." People 'should not forget' Fukushima It's much more that this has been the preference all along," said Lipscy. "I don't think the government's view on this issue has changed. The Russian invasion has rattled markets and driven up prices, and concern about sourcing energy has recently led other countries to announce plans to further develop their nuclear industries, including South Korea, the United Kingdom and France. During Ukraine's rolling blackouts, candles and 'faith in ourselves' become latest weapons.Most of them have remained idled for more than a decade or are being decommissioned.Īt the time of the disaster, nuclear plants generated about a third of the country's power, with plans to increase it to 40 per cent within the decade.īut by 2021, after 10 reactors had been put back online, nuclear accounted for less than six per cent. Only a few years ago, it looked like sharply rising anti-nuclear sentiment would force Japan to completely abandon it as a major source of electricity.Īll 54 of the country's reactors were shut down after the core meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, and regulators introduced stricter safety standards. "In order to overcome our imminent crisis of a power supply crunch, we must take our utmost steps to mobilize all possible policies in the coming years and prepare for any emergency," said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a "green-transformation" conference in August. That marks a reversal of the policy penned after the 2011 disaster in northern Japan, when an earthquake and tsunami triggered a triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. The policy says the government will promote the development and construction of next-generation reactors to replace nuclear plants slated for retirement. The Japanese government wants to restart reactors at one of the world’s largest nuclear power plants, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, which has been offline since 2011. Perhaps most controversially, the Industry Ministry is pushing to build new ones. 28, the government presented a draft of its new nuclear policy, which proposes to extend the operational life of Japan's aging nuclear plants from 40 years to beyond 60, if safety upgrades are made. The dramatic shift includes plans to restart nine mothballed reactors by the end of this winter and seven more by next summer. Reactor restarts and next-generation plants The public conversation about conserving energy is far less contentious than the issue looming in the background: To deal with a global power crunch and ensure a stable supply, Japan's government is proposing a significant reversal of its energy policy, and pushing a revival of its much-maligned nuclear industry. "People don't feel a sense of urgency about it," said her friend Kaoruko Amakawa. "I'm aware of the problem, but I don't think there are many things we can do individually to help," said On Akatsuka, as she stood outside brightly-lit Shibuya station. The campaign may not be dimming things in power-ravenous Shibuya, but it's made some people more alive to the gaping energy hole that Japan is in. On top of asking people to turn things off when possible, government leaders have politely prodded them to don turtleneck sweaters and wear layers of warm clothes indoors to cut down on the need for electric heat. You'd never know Japan was in the throes of an energy crisis from a visit to the electric glow of Tokyo's Shibuya Crossing, with its beaming video billboards and speakers pumping music for the throng of pedestrians.īut the Japanese government has been urging businesses and households to conserve power amid a critical supply shortage, the surging cost of imported energy, and the country's pledge to end its reliance on fossil fuels like coal.Įarlier this year, the government issued its first-ever power supply warning to stave off widespread blackouts, and there's concern about it again this winter.
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