The legacy plants need to be closed down, many are well past their sell by date and and running them longer, especially after a long shut down is sheer folly. Yes Japan needs an alternative to imported fossil fuel powered plants and the total lack of action on the part of the government over the last 11 years to provide an alternative is an utter disgrace that in any other country would see the party responsible cast in to the political wilderness for a generation!
However modern walk away safe nuclear plants will have eventually to become a foundational part of Japans energy mix if the country is to keep the lights on and its industry competitive. The rest will have to be a mix of sustainable and renewable technologies.
Ubesh, fusion is a fantasy, as yet no one has managed to get it to generate more energy than it requires to run by a long way. No country can rely on a future technology that as yet doesn’t exist and may never but if it ever does will not be practical for another 30 years.
Nope. It won't be in time. Meanwhile Deep Water exchange cooling (see Enwave deep lake water cooling) is how you get aircon everywhere without nuclear for an island nation with all its major cities along the coasts
I was on a team which tested the safety systems of GE Mark I and Mark II Boiling Water Reactors, just like the ones in Fukushima. Nuclear power is not just unsafe, it is terribly uneconomical. Government must find ways to ignore Big Money alrady invested in the nuclear economic black holes. In addition, we can help by doing our part. We invested in a PV system on the house which now powers our electric cars. We get free power, since it paid back in three years.
Modernize the plants and stricter failsafes for human errors would be welcomed. Atomic energy is safe and it is the way to go if we care about the environment.
Yes the plants are built and the workers are still hired collecting their checks. Japan needs cleaner/longer lasting efficient energy sources and nuclear is the obvious choice instead of coal.
Other than energy shortage & rising prices, nuclear power is also a solution to climate issues.
Don't be submissive to fossil fuel exporters namely the aggressor Russia. The reactivation will push down oil and gas prices in the global market. It will also help Ukrainian win the war.
So the Japanese gov still can’t pull its finger out. What have they been doing all these years? Nothing! As for understanding! Well, They can either 1 restart the nukes or 2 , pretend to raise tax for social care,( cough cough) then use it to build solar, wind and thermal power plants. I’d have thought with Japan being the most active thermally they’d have tapped into that natural resource like Iceland.
25 Comments
Login to comment
englisc aspyrgend
The legacy plants need to be closed down, many are well past their sell by date and and running them longer, especially after a long shut down is sheer folly. Yes Japan needs an alternative to imported fossil fuel powered plants and the total lack of action on the part of the government over the last 11 years to provide an alternative is an utter disgrace that in any other country would see the party responsible cast in to the political wilderness for a generation!
However modern walk away safe nuclear plants will have eventually to become a foundational part of Japans energy mix if the country is to keep the lights on and its industry competitive. The rest will have to be a mix of sustainable and renewable technologies.
Ubesh, fusion is a fantasy, as yet no one has managed to get it to generate more energy than it requires to run by a long way. No country can rely on a future technology that as yet doesn’t exist and may never but if it ever does will not be practical for another 30 years.
sf2k
@gkamburoff, that's great, any local opposition to the solar panels? Any incentives?
sf2k
Nope. It won't be in time. Meanwhile Deep Water exchange cooling (see Enwave deep lake water cooling) is how you get aircon everywhere without nuclear for an island nation with all its major cities along the coasts
Cognac
it's funny that most of the comments here are against nuclear (including mine) but yes has almost 75% :D
gkamburoff
I was on a team which tested the safety systems of GE Mark I and Mark II Boiling Water Reactors, just like the ones in Fukushima. Nuclear power is not just unsafe, it is terribly uneconomical. Government must find ways to ignore Big Money alrady invested in the nuclear economic black holes. In addition, we can help by doing our part. We invested in a PV system on the house which now powers our electric cars. We get free power, since it paid back in three years.
We can all do something.
Yrral
Tokyo will be breathing soot from Chiba,coal fired Soga Power Plant in the future
Logical_Fallacy_Killer
Modernize the plants and stricter failsafes for human errors would be welcomed. Atomic energy is safe and it is the way to go if we care about the environment.
fxgai
Modern nuclear technology is the only viable way to wean the world off fossil fuels.
Ubesh
Fusion
GillislowTier
Yes the plants are built and the workers are still hired collecting their checks. Japan needs cleaner/longer lasting efficient energy sources and nuclear is the obvious choice instead of coal.
kyushubill
Fire them up and turn up those A/Cs.
noriahojanen
Other than energy shortage & rising prices, nuclear power is also a solution to climate issues.
Don't be submissive to fossil fuel exporters namely the aggressor Russia. The reactivation will push down oil and gas prices in the global market. It will also help Ukrainian win the war.
borscht
No, they haven’t.
jeancolmar
Nuclear power general is dangerous. Accidents are one thing and the inability to thoroughly clean up after them is another.
blahblah222
If they get reactivated, it is without a doubt that another major accident will occur within 20 years.
Abe234
So the Japanese gov still can’t pull its finger out. What have they been doing all these years? Nothing! As for understanding! Well, They can either 1 restart the nukes or 2 , pretend to raise tax for social care,( cough cough) then use it to build solar, wind and thermal power plants. I’d have thought with Japan being the most active thermally they’d have tapped into that natural resource like Iceland.
Kaerimashita
No other choice if we are to meet emissions targets.
Sanjinosebleed
No more Nukes! No More Fukushimas!
Tom San
Atomic is the way to go.
Aly Rustom
considering the debacle of 3/11, a big fat NO!