Japan turns back to nuclear power to tackle energy crisis

An "expert panel" made the decision and the Diet will take up the issue next year? What form of democracy is this?

allow existing nuclear reactors to operate beyond the current limit of 60 years

Extend how long another 5/10 years or unlimited? If unlimited just wait for another Fukushima occurs elsewhere then.

This has been the plan all along. These nuclear plants are the ultimate in pork and the communities that choose to host them make a ton of money.

So Fukushima NPP is uncontrollably releasing mass amounts of radiation into air, sea, soil and groundwater, and they want to restart old crumbling reactors on faultlines?

cheap Russian gas is just across the creek and we have a buck load of alternative energy sources.

All the operating reactors are in western Japan. None supplying Tokyo.

Over decade from Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan had enough times to popularize renewable energy but LDP government delayed it intentionally to protect nuclear power vested interests.

Who caused "energy crisis" is LDP government themselves.

In this connection, Japan's "expert panel" is always full of pro-government experts.

If one is concerned about increased CO2 and global warming, small modular reactors (SMRs) like those proposed by Taylor Wilson and others ought to be seriously considered as part of the national power generation mix.

Nuclear power generation in Japan, prone to some of the worst earthquakes that the world has seen in recent history is moronic.

The comment from Hideomi is actually spot on but in addition, the Japanese government actually took away subsidies for renewables several years ago making solar investment a lot less attractive.

If NPPs were really so trusted by the politicians here, then we’d see an NPP in Tokyo Bay-strangely we don’t!

These plants are sitting there and if the nay sayers think they are dangerous, they need to be decommissioned. But they are still sitting there anyway yea to later, doing nothing, and the so called danger is still there, but doing nothing for the country or planet. So if we aren’t decommissioning them, we might as well use them, until we are ready to pay up, and transition so we can live without them. At least it can reduce CO2, and stop Japan buying all those fissile fuels, which I guess the nat sayers would also confirm is dangerous too. No choice burn more CO2 producing fuels, fueling climate change, or use them. I say let’s use them!

Nuclear is more sustainable long term over solar and wind and produces less waste.

errr, 1000 years of constant waste storage, the cost of building, maintaining and decommissioning costing ten times more than their output…duh

fukushima, if it can ever be stopped has already cost $80billion.

Nuclear is the future. Nuclear is the solution to save the planet, to become energy independent and reduce dependence on countries like Russia.

Too much foreign propaganda against Nuclear in my opinion, same people would rather Japanese freeze in the winter, see Japanese businesses fail and go out of business. Energy cost increases which Japan's economy, citizens and businesses can't handle the increase. Stagnation and lost decades for 30 years now. We need Nuclear not for 1 reason, but for 100 reasons.

The false energy crisis created by the energy companies combined with the LDP so they can restart the dangerous poorly monitored nuclear plants and make some more money without a care for the general population!

Nuclear and fossil fuel energy are for prosperity. Other unreliable sources are for poverty. The midori agenda is really an attack on humanity. Make fossil energy unavailable and make people die from the cold. There are more people who die from the cold than from the heat. Because fuel is expensive, people are scouring the forest in Europe to find firewood for heating creating more carbon emissions. Make people poor and the last thing that they worry about is the environment. Make them prosperous and they will care for the environment.

the death cult will not see this as a reason to stop. They will only re-gather themselves and push harder.

No amount of failure and economic disaster will deter them.

The cost of Fukushima to date is about ¥12 trillion or $82 billion. Probably by the end a lot more.

Nuclear power plants need to be replaced by other energy sources but the current renewables are unable to do it. About 20% of power is generated by renewable energy. That probably could be increased to 30%.

The base load or the overnight demand is important to keep the system ticking over. That is difficult to provide using renewable energy. The baseload is about 25% of the total power demand.

There is a worldwide energy crisis and the prices of fossil fuels are very high and hitting everyone.

Does the country use no nuclear power or some nuclear power until it can be replaced with other energies?

The TEPCO nuclear power plant in Niigata could power most of the Kanto region.

Are people willing to use less power and pay more for it?

There are about 20 reactors that can be operated.

The Fukushima NPP survived the earthquake but not the tsunami. The Onagawa NPP on the same coast survived the earthquake and tsunami.

Ex-PM Kan and Koizumi are anti-nuclear.

Having been in a large earthquake which killed thousands; I would categorically say that absolutely no man made structure is invulnerable to a large seismic event.

The fools in Tokyo have never but will soon understand why NPPs are the wrong choice for Japan.

Having been in a large earthquake which killed thousands; I would categorically say that absolutely no man made structure is invulnerable to a large seismic event.

Which earthquake specifically?

The fools in Tokyo have never but will soon understand why NPPs are the wrong choice for Japan.

And if indeed you were "in it", how does this make you an authority on the subject?

The Fukushima NPP survived the earthquake but not the tsunami. The Onagawa NPP on the same coast survived the earthquake and tsunami.

Dai-ichi could have, and should have survived the tsunami. Its operators ignored many safety protocols including the most important, moving its backup generators to higher ground, since the 1970's.

Protecting emergency power supplies, including diesel generators and batteries, by moving them to higher ground or by placing them in watertight bunkers;

https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/06/why-fukushima-was-preventable-pub-47361

The Fukushima nuclear disaster was manmade by the lack of safety standards which would have involved more than backup generators on the hillside. The plant was not built for safety from its construction. The plant needed watertight reactor buildings. Electrical switchgear higher than ground level. An emergency clean water supply. Operator safety training. A higher seawall. And so much more.

How many other plants lack the safety features?

The Fukushima nuclear disaster was manmade by the lack of safety standards which would have involved more than backup generators on the hillside. The plant was not built for safety from its construction. The plant needed watertight reactor buildings. Electrical switchgear higher than ground level. An emergency clean water supply. Operator safety training. A higher seawall. And so much more.

right, And so never should have happened. And despite it all, 1 person died.

Nuclear, oil and natural gas are the sane options Japan must focus on.

They'll virtue-signal about the myth about "zero emissions" and "sustainability", but it will always come back to nuclear, oil and natural gas.

A very rare (smart) choice to get the NPPs back on line.