Gov't stresses cost of ending nuclear power as decision looms

Arnie Gunderson, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education Corp, a non-profit organization.

A veteran anti-nuclear campaigner who is regularly discredited by experts.

Japan needs to move away from nuclear power sooner, rather than later. The longer the nation waits to move in that direction, the more difficult the transition will be.

http://karltrautman.com/

Sounds like voodoo economics.

Energy costs are rising because of nuclear energy and the cost of arguably the greatest industrial disaster in history.

By 2030, the overall population is expected to decline to 110 million, and productive-age population to about 80 million, a drop of about 20%. Why is this never discussed when talking about Japan's energy future? Conservation measures (if adopted) and the use of efficiency technologies can be used to counter any rising energy costs.

Only -3? Does that mean that some people have Googled the 'expert' and know what I'm referring to?

Here is a good reason the cost could rise.

Nuclear power industry's shady payments since Fukushima crisis http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201208200103

A little light reading on the expert:

http://squeeze-box.ca/?p=892

He made quite a lot of claims in March and April 2011 that didn't really come true. When I say didn't really, I of course mean didn't remotely.

Indeed it doesn't but it certainly detracts from the quality of the article. Any time you use him as an expert creates questions of the impartiality of an article. Though it could be claimed that he is the only 'expert' prepared to give a critical statement.

Indeed it doesn't but it certainly detracts from the quality of the article. Any time you use him as an expert creates questions of the impartiality of an article. Though it could be claimed that he is the only 'expert' prepared to give a critical statement.

Exactly, not a very deep bench for the "experts" on the anti side. There are valid points to be made by those against the use of nuclear energy but many of those who have been quoted in the media, Gunderson and Cladicott come to mind first, have been discredited time and again.

http://bravenewclimate.com/2011/04/05/measuring-our-monsters/

Just a question; does anyone actually struggle to pay their electricity bill? As in, "oh dear, it will be cabbage soup for the rest of the month, because our electricity bill is too high"

My electricity bill is something like Y6000 per month. The provider is Tohoku Electric and they currently have no operating nuclear power stations. If the "zero" nuclear power option is chosen why would electricity bills double by 2030 when the situation would be basically the same as it is now? Are electricity bills in Okinawa (with no nuclear power stations) double, or significantly higher, than the rest of Japan?

It sounds like bureaucrats opposed to the "zero" option have pulled some figures out of their backsides. Do they really expect people to swallow their lies any more?

Our estimate is that households will use 60 to 70% less electricity by 2030, Hiroshi Komiyama, chairman of Mitsubishi Research Institute, told Reuters

What a bunch of crap. This dude is smoking dope. Just look at the trend in electricity usage since it was first harnessed by man. There will forever be more new gadgets, appliances, uses, etc that use electricty. Anyway, reducing your electrical usage is like going on diet, sounds good, but ain't the choice of many for long.

Certainly the 25 most dangerous nuclear power plants should be shut down for good from now (this includes the Oi #1 and #2 plants, the Tsuruga #1 plant and all of the Mihama plants) . As to the others, these should be phase out as soon as they can.

Sorry should be "phased out".

This article reads like an anti-nuclear pamphlet. It uses "experts" that have clear bias, like owning an anti-nuclear company, and it takes quotes out of context.

The price of coal and gas are expected to be 15 yen/kWh, and oil 36yen/kWh by 2030 according to the report, and considering oil currently supplies nearly 50% of the power, the energy use shrinking AND price doubling are NOT mutually exclusive, and in fact the report assumes decreased household use.

And while the report states that 50 trillion would be needed for solar, that would only assume that solar is 10% of electrical generation, and it fails to include the price of FIT, which is another 50 trillion yen by 2030. Japan simply does not have the financial resources to switch, considering solar would cost a year's worth of GDP, and other alternatives almost the same. And that's before figuring in the FACT that solar is impossible to produce in Japan in the quantities needed, especially if nuclear plants are not brought back online, since it would require about 300-400 TWh to produce when Japan currently has excess supplies of -100TWh or so (yes, negative).

They can scream "energy revolution" all they want, but science and engineering tells them time and time again that nuclear IS THE SAFEST form of electricity, no less than twice as safe as solar, safer than wind, safer than the worldwide average for hydro, and hundreds of times safer than fossil fuels.

a 4 year old child could argue that nuclear is safer than fossil fuels, you need a statistician to argue it's safer than wind and solar. But there are those statistics out there that show that currently more people die for an hour of solar electric than for an hour if nuclear. Google it.