Japan will have to build a 1-gigawatt nuclear power reactor every year from now until 2030 to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said Wednesday.
Japan will have to build a 1-gigawatt nuclear power reactor every year from now until 2030 to effectively reduce carbon dioxide emissions, Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said Wednesday.

In a recent report, the Paris-based energy watchdog described a scenario where global CO2 emissions made from energy use could start falling around 2020 mainly by promoting energy-efficient technology and nuclear power generation.

To achieve that scenario, "nuclear power would be very useful for Japan " because the country is already energy efficient, Tanaka said in a speech in Tokyo .

He also said Japan 's nuclear power operating rates have been relatively low due to too much regulation and voluntary controls by governments and utilities.

"The rates have been around 70%. But it should be raised to near 90%," said Tanaka.

Japan 's nuclear power operating rates have mostly been moving between 50% and 70% in recent years, as concerns over safety have risen due to cover-ups of accidents and as earthquakes hit some nuclear power stations.

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