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Japan Government to Call Nuclear Energy Important Energy Source

Japan Government to Call Nuclear Energy Important Energy Source
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Παρ, 6 Δεκεμβρίου 2013 - 17:38
In an attempt to overturn the previous administration's pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government will call it an "important source of energy for the country" in its new energy plan.
In an attempt to overturn the previous administration's pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government will call it an "important source of energy for the country" in its new energy plan.

The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to "stabilize Japan 's energy supply-demand structure" and said that the country will continue to use it.

Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government's declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan 's 50 currently idled reactors.

The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe's government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing the nation's nuclear industry back to life one of his campaign promises, the previous Democratic Party of Japan-led government had pledged that Japan would phase out all domestic use of nuclear power by 2040.

Highlighting the economic necessity of nuclear power, the draft points out that a surge in liquefied natural gas imports to stably supply electricity throughout the country has led to very expensive fossil fuels costs. It also said an overreliance on thermal power has increased the country's carbon dioxide emissions.

 Japan 's annual LNG demand rose by 23% to 87 million metric tons in the two years after the Fukushima disaster. The country's greenhouse-gas emissions climbed to their second-highest level on record last fiscal year to 1.207 billion tons of CO2, up 7.4% from the year before the Fukushima accident, and 14% more than in fiscal 1990-1991, the benchmark year for the Kyoto Protocol.

The draft doesn't lay out specific details such as what percentage of nuclear power there should be in Japan 's future energy mix or whether the government wants old nuclear power plants to be replaced with new ones.

Despite public opposition to nuclear power, Mr. Abe has maintained his popularity among voters. In a poll held by major broadcaster Fuji News in mid-November, 57% of 1,000 respondents said they supported Mr. Abe's administration compared with 25% who said they didn't. But 57% of the same respondents said they supported a zero-nuclear campaign recently launched by former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

Mr. Koizumi, one of Japan 's most popular former prime ministers and a mentor to Mr. Abe, emerged from obscurity in recent months after leaving office seven years ago, publicly expressing the view that Japan should give up nuclear power and saying it is irresponsible to operate reactors without finding any permanent solution for nuclear waste.

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