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TEPCO gets 1st approval to restart reactors since 2011 disaster

23 Comments
By MARI YAMAGUCHI

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23 Comments
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This is terrible. Abe-no-mix deserves an "F", and TEPCO does not deserve the public's trust.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Present Japanese nuclear regulation authorities is full of nuclear industries' beneficiary or related person,independency is nowhere.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

Get ready for news of the first leak in a few days, with TEPCO admitting it in 2021.

6 ( +9 / -3 )

I guess, this is what North Korea meant with nuclear clouds over Japan?

In all seriousness, unbelievable. But honestly, we could all see it coming. There is no way to stop the pro-nuclear crowd from doing what they want. Anyone sane is against it, there have been protests on the streets, by the people living nearby, even by famous scientists but NO, they just steamroll the OK-papers and boom here we are.

If there is ever a big new incident due or not due to an earthquake, for the love of god, some heads gotta roll.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

Leaking tainted water from April, gushing poisoned water and they get a free pass, these people are so incompetent,, relying on us for a profit, our tax money support them these faces less people are supported by the LDP it's obvious. They can not run a business they run a tax payer subsidy loss. More tax money gone to a badly run company that doesn't care less about people.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

"Abe's government aims to increase nuclear energy to 20% of Japan's energy mix by about 2030."

Really?? With such a high risk of a major earthquake? So, we risk destroying a whole country and its people for 20% of energy? Has everyone been sleeping since 3/11? Oh yeah, forgot, its not reported in the media anymore. Out of sight, out of mind.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

The Japanese utility blamed for safety lapses in the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns 

Allow me to correct this statement: The Japanese utility who was proven to have falsified records of safety upgrades, which caused the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns.

All this for a goal of supplying only 20% of the country's electricity needs? At its peak, nuclear power only supplied 30% of Japan's electricity needs. The only reason they will not let nuclear power go is because of the huge amounts of money they have invested in it. This plant was opened in 1985. This means that, these reactors are already over 30 years old and have a working lifespan of only 40 years. It seems like a lot of trouble for just a few years of service. No doubt do they intend to extend the working life of ageing reactors in a severely earthquake prone country? These wankers are just trucking stupid! How many nuclear disasters will it take for the Japanese government to wake up and realise they are gambling with an energy they cannot control or afford? The one disaster in Fukushima will end up costing 100 times more than it cost to build every reactor in the country. These idiots need a good slap up the side of the head!

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Link in your mind this story with the..."Nissan suspected of forging inspection documents"

add in TEPCOs documented history of same practices regarding safety checks.

What could possibly go wrong?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

And this comes just following on the heals of the following report:

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/japanese-beaches-60-miles-away-have-become-major-source-radioactivity-after-fukushima-1641570

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Japan officially regresses six years

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Finally, government and industry is taking the rational step of restarting the safe nuclear reactors in Japan. This makes sense from both a global climate and economic point of view.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

Nuclear disaster is not the future. Japan should give up the idea. Japan is surrounded by water, by wind and by sun. They are the sources for the energy. Sorry, Abe, I love you but I love Japan more.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Tragedy imminent.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

One really has to wonder as towards the logic here ?

Who benefits ?

J.Gov - well they end up footing the bill, so that means its really us, the Tax payer.

TEPCO - they get off "scott free". Why are they even existing today ? Surely even a rebranding effort would have been somewhat more akin to whats going on in Hibyia ?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

@Per Christer Lund - Finally, government and industry is taking the rational step of restarting the safe nuclear reactors in Japan.

Oh, is this so? Please tell me how restarting reactors that are approaching 40 years old is safe. Furthermore. please tell me which part of Japan is safe from strong earthquakes. And, while you're at it, please tell me which part of the Japanese coastline is safe from tsunamis. And, by the way, which are the 'safe' reactors you are referring too?

@Per Christer Lund - This makes sense from both a global climate and economic point of view.

Wow! You really should have taken the blue pill. Even if Japan does achieve their goal of 20% of their electricity coming from nuclear sources, this does not mean Japan will cut their CO2 emissions by 20%, so their goes your global climate argument. As for economics, this too is a fail. The only economic reasons Japan and TEPCO need these reactors back online is to help pay for the meltdowns in Fukushima and because they have already invested gazzilions of yen in nuclear power and won't let it go. The one disaster destroyed both the economy of TEPCO and also destroyed a large swath of land and covered a large part of the globe with radiation. Yeah, Japan's return to nuclear power is a good thing, isn't it?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

"Parts of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant's other reactors suffered some damage in the 2007 major earthquake."

Other reactors? Allow me to correct this statement. Reactor seven, one of the two they now wish to restart, suffered the most damage. Radioactive water sloshed out of the spent fuel rod pool, and the massive solid steel extractor crane sheared right through its base.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

OK, seems no matter what we say, nothing will ever be listened to. So let's just give up, what's the point of this website anyway ?

J Govt. can turn on all their Nuke Reactors, who cares. we'll at least be able to walk around in the dark of night and see where we are going.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

So many options to move away from nuclear. But oyajis never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Sigh. Could have had half a dozen Deep Water Cooling systems in by now. With so many cities on the coast, it could have reduced electricity demand significantly. Also salt water holds more energy than lake water. Deep Lake Water Cooling in Toronto was put in place in 2003 and has reduced the electricity load by 75% across hundreds of buildings in our downtown core. Given our city council it's a fluke that we have it I'm sure. At any rate, scaled to the demands of Japanese cities across the country would have been a worthy goal instead of the brown envelopes keeping nuclear alive

Then add geothermal, add solar thermal, add all the thermals before you even get to solar panels and you have an interesting mix of renewable energy systems. If you want to store the energy you can use molten salt as other countries have done.

The level of innovation keeps increasing. The longer Japan runs backwards the more work it'll take to modernize

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Disillusioned

Allow me to correct this statement: The Japanese utility who was proven to have falsified records of safety upgrades, which caused the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdowns.

Got a reference for falsified records of safety upgrades causing the meltdowns?

Please tell me how restarting reactors that are approaching 40 years old is safe. Furthermore. please tell me which part of Japan is safe from strong earthquakes. And, while you're at it, please tell me which part of the Japanese coastline is safe from tsunamis.

As long as the structure and systems of the reactor meet the standards for safe operation, they are safe. As for earthquakes, NPPs are built to resist them, and no major accident has been caused by an earthquake. Tsunamis? The safety updates counter those.

Even if Japan does achieve their goal of 20% of their electricity coming from nuclear sources, this does not mean Japan will cut their CO2 emissions by 20%, so their goes your global climate argument. 

That's pretty poor comparison. Japan having 20% of their electricity coming from a low carbon source will still have a big effect. It won't stop global warming, but it'll be better than turning on those 40 coal plants that are building/planned.

sf2k,

Then add geothermal, add solar thermal, add all the thermals before you even get to solar panels and you have an interesting mix of renewable energy systems. If you want to store the energy you can use molten salt as other countries have done.

Current easily-accessible geothermal is around 1-2 GW - the two reactors in this article put out more power than that.

Japan, with its premium on flat land, cloud cover, and earthquakes, is unsuited to solar thermal - which requires flat land and reliable sunlight.

Other thermal actually means burning fossil fuels or biomass - they're called thermal power stations.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Nuclear regulstion authorities of Japan still avoid investigation about evacuation plans.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Nuclear regulstion authorities of Japan still avoid investigation about evacuation plans.

Really? Maybe because they're a largely-invented requirement.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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