Japan is turning to nuclear power more than a decade after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Japan is ditching plans to lessen its reliance on nuclear power amid struggles to reach its emissions targets and bolster its energy security.
In a draft strategic energy plan due to be approved by the cabinet this month, according to The Guardian, the trade and industry ministry signalled it was ditching attempts to lessen Japan’s reliance on nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster – the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chornobyl 25 years earlier.
The document dropped a reference to “reducing reliance” on nuclear energy that had appeared in the three previous plans, and instead called for a “maximisation” of nuclear power, which will account for about 20% of total energy output in 2040, based on the assumption that 30 reactors will be in full operation by then.
The plan envisages a share of between 40% and 50% for renewable energy – compared with just under a third in 2023 – and a reduction in coal-fired power from the current 70% to 30-40%.
In the meantime, the US Energy Information Administration, (eia) a principal agency of the US Federal Statistical System, said that Japanese utilities restarted two additional nuclear reactors in 2024 that had been suspended from operations in response to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi accident, taking the total number of restarted reactors to 14 since the accident.
In November, Tohoku Electric Power Co. restarted its 796-megawatt (MW) Onagawa Unit 2 reactor, and in December Chugoku Electric Power Co. restarted its Shimane Unit 2 (789 MW). Onagawa is the nuclear power plant located closest to the epicenter of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Most of the restarted reactors have been pressurized water reactors (PWR) located in western Japan.
The suspension of Japan's nuclear fleet after the Fukushima accident significantly increased dependence on natural gas, oil, and coal imports to make up for lost domestic nuclear generation. It also significantly increased the installed capacity of solar photovoltaic generation in the country, according to data from Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Japan has limited domestic fossil fuel resources and imports virtually all the fossil fuels it uses. Consequently, Japan is the world's second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after China and the third-largest importer of coal, eia noted.
“Nuclear plants are not where the Japanese government should be investing its money,” Aileen Smith, executive director of the Kyoto-based group Green Action was quoted as saying by The Guardian. “Many nuclear plants are old, and the technology they use is even older. The costs of retrofitting are high, so even operating existing plants is no longer commercially viable,” Aileen Smith added.