Prime Minister Naoto Kan urged an about-face in Japan's energy policy Wednesday, saying he wants to phase out the use of nuclear power as the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has shown that the risks of atomic energy are too great.
Prime Minister Naoto
Kan
urged
an about-face in
Japan
's
energy policy Wednesday, saying he wants to phase out the use of nuclear power
as the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has shown that the risks of
atomic energy are too great.
The statement marks a complete reversal from
Japan
's
previous policy to make nuclear power its main source of electricity, and is a
step further than
Kan
's
recent comments that he wants to reduce its share.
But
Kan
did
not give a timetable for reducing the share of nuclear energy, and many
lawmakers question whether such a major shift in policy should be carried out
by
Kan
, who
has said he will step down once key bills on quake reconstruction are enacted.
"We should aim to have a society that does not rely on nuclear
power,"
Kan
told
a televised press conference. "In the future, we should realize a society
that can carry on without nuclear reactors."
Nuclear energy currently accounts for about 30% of the country's total power
supply.
Following the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami,
Kan
said
the government's current energy policy to boost the share of nuclear energy to
over half of total power supply by 2030 should be reconsidered.
"I have come to realize that this is a technology that cannot be
controlled by previous safety measures,"
Kan
said,
adding the disaster had altered his thinking.
The astonishing shift in the nation's basic energy policy is likely to cause an
uproar in both political and business communities, where just last week, Kan's
surprise announcement of an indefinite delay in restarting suspended nuclear
reactors in order to conduct additional safety tests provoked outrage.
Kan
's
remarks also came after the government cautioned Wednesday in its monthly
economic report that electricity supply shortages could weigh on the nation's
still-fragile economy.
Prior to his surprise announcement,
Kan
had
maintained that nuclear energy would continue to be a significant power source
for the resource-poor nation, alongside a wider role for renewable energy and
conservation.
Japan's economy minister earlier Wednesday called for consistency in the
country's energy policy, saying that decisions on the future should be made
once the Fukushima crisis subsides:
"It's easy to talk about going off nuclear power, but replacing it with
fossil fuels will have the same effect as increasing corporate taxes by
30%," Kaoru Yosano said at a press conference before Kan's announcement.
Japan Federation of Business Associations, the country's most influential
business lobby, has warned that companies may shift operations overseas if
concerns over power shortages persist.
Moreover, unlike Italy and Germany, where anti-nuclear energy policies were
reached after referendums or extensive government discussions, Kan's policy
u-turn can hardly be said to be supported by the public, or even his own administration.
In a poll by the national daily Mainichi newspaper published
July 4, 37
% of those polled supported
restarting currently suspended nuclear reactors.
Kan
ruled
out speculation that he would dissolve parliament and call a snap election over
energy policy, but added that the voters have the right to choose their energy
policy.
The prime minister said there was possibility that nuclear reactors now shut
for maintenance would go back online, but also said there should be enough
electricity supply to get through this summer and winter due to current
conservation efforts.
Consumers in affected areas such as
Tokyo
are
being called upon to cut usage by as much as 15% from normal levels due to the
shutdown of plants after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The government is planning to study if a mandatory power conservation will be
also be required in western Japan, which is suppiled by a separate grid with
different frequencies to eastern Japan, as the prolonged outage of nuclear
plants threatens to spread power shortages throughout the country.
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