Statements judged “encouraging” by the main Japanese employers’ confederation, Keidanren, but criticized by the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC, an NGO opposed to nuclear power) because they formulated “without any consultation”. The reactions were quick after the announcement, Wednesday August 24 by the Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, of the revival of seven nuclear reactors by 2023, of a reflection to extend the life of the reactors in beyond sixty years, and above all the possibility of building new ones.
Mr Kishida was speaking at a meeting of the Green Transformation Commission set up in July to brainstorm ways to meet the environmental goals of the world’s third-largest economy. “Faced with the risk of a power shortage, we must take all the necessary measures”, he explained. Mr. Kishida also asked the committee to present concrete measures by the end of the year, in particular to “better public understanding” interest in nuclear power.
Japan is bearing the brunt of soaring energy prices and the tensions following the war in Ukraine over gas and oil supplies. Criticized for its massive use of coal, it must also meet its carbon neutrality objectives by 2050. For this, it wants to increase the share of nuclear power to 20-22% of the energy mix by 2030, against 4% in 2020.
The focus on nuclear power and the prospect of a relaunch of the construction of new reactors constitute a break with the policy followed since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011 which caused the meltdown of three of the six reactors of the plant Fukushima Dai-ichi, triggering the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The government then shut down the country’s 54 reactors, which generated 30% of its electricity. The Prime Minister at the time, Naoto Kan (Democrat, now in opposition), proposed the “achieving a society without nuclear power” due to the inability to “fully ensure security”.
Appeal
Since its return to power at the end of 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD) has been trying to relaunch nuclear power. This strategy involves efforts to minimize the impact of the Fukushima disaster, the resolution of which is expected to take several decades. In 2013, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the situation at the stricken plant was ” under control “.
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