Sunday May 27, 2012

Post-tsunami Japan sticking with nuclear power

By Yuri Kageyama

National ( 46 )

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Photo shows the Ikata nuclear power plant and its compound operated by Shikoku Electric Power Co in Ikata. AP Photo

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  • 4

    Cricky

    Seems that being/proud of being Idiots is now in Vogue.

  • 1

    cleo

    Neon lights disappeared from once-glitzy urban landscapes.

    This is not a bad thing.

  • 1

    badmigraine

    Interesting that human social and economic behaviors also bring the same checks and culls that disease and starvation effect to reduce simple animal overpopulation. As Arnold said in T2: "It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." There's no need to worry about how to feed the extra billions in the coming centuries. The system takes care of itself. You can only fill up a fish tank with so much crap before a mass die-off and rebirth.

  • 0

    Farmboy

    A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 55% of Japanese want to reduce the number of reactors in the country.

    Where there's a will, there's a way. To say that Japan is sticking with nuclear power is misleading. I think people are looking much more seriously at possible alternatives, and will move in that direction. It will take time, yes, and 100 nuke-free may not happen in our lifetime, but things have already started moving that way in spite of the PR from the nuke-supporting companies. If people can sustain, over a generation, support for politicians in favor of a change, that is the way things will go.

  • 0

    Farmboy

    100 percent nuke- free. Sorry for the error above. (It would be nice if we could edit these posts, especially for the mistake-prone among us...)

  • 0

    Yogizuna

    Farmboy: There is a preview option next to the submit button where you can check for mistakes and edit your posts before they are published.

  • 0

    zichi

    I think the country could shut down at least 50% of it's nuclear reactors and seek ways to generate power with renewables. Over the next ten years new energy will become available and current ones with improvements like batteries which can be used with solar generation.

    Germany will end it's nuke energy and will import power from France's nuke power stations but it's a good move whenever the number of reactors in the world are reduced.

  • 0

    zichi

    There should be a referendum to know what the nation thinks about nuke power?

  • 0

    tideofiron

    The problem is that it's not an issue of PR, it's the fact that energy has also become a security issue for Japan and most other countries. Japan has little or no natural deposits of gas or oil so unless it relies on nuclear energy, it would be forced to purchase from other countries. Not only would that be expensive but much of that energy would also come from places like China (which has its own energy problems, but that's another story). If Japan becomes dependent on other countries for energy then it's going to basically lose its sovereignty.

    It's all well and good to say that nuclear energy is dangerous and a "bad thing" but until a realistic form of clean renewable sources of energy can be found in Japan, it can't wean itself off nuclear power.

  • 0

    smithinjapan

    Kan has recently admitted he was scared stiff at the prospect that Tokyo might have become a 'ghost town' (fire him for saying that!!) due to what happened at the Fukushima plant, but clearly no one has learned. So, we all wait for the day when it actually happens, and it will, and only then will people who are pro-nuclear say maybe they should have laid off a bit (then will start lobbying to build more plants).

  • 0

    zichi

    Most industrialised countries including the U.S. have to import some form of energy. France has a large number of nuke rectors but still imports oil and gas.

    It does not stop there, the countries also import many minerals or chemicals which are not available in their countries. Even uranium or yellow cake for making nuke fuel rods is imported from Australia, Canada or Niger. Diamonds are imported from South Africa for use in industrial cutting equipment. Computers are imported from mostly Asian based countries.

    Very few countries grow or produce all the foods it requires especially with consumers demanding out of season foods. Flowers grown in Kenya are sold in Europe.

    Even with nuke power, Japan still imports oil and gas and a very wide range of important minerals.

    We live in an international world and there are no industrialised countries which could be self contained with energy.

  • 0

    LFRAgain

    "Six months later, though, the nation seems to be sticking with nuclear power, at least for now."

    What an asinine premise for an article. Of course Japan is sticking with nuclear power. It couldn't stop using it overnight even if it wanted to. The nuclear reactors that power Japan are part of infrastructure that's some 50 years in the making. You don't dismantle that overnight. And when there clearly is no viable alternative, not to mention the kind of funding it would require to discover, research, and employ a suitable alternative, you're left with little choice in the matter.

    Kudos to Germany for making a promise to stop using nuclear power, but how much weight does that promise really carry when the other side of it involves Germany, also an industrialized nation in need of large quantities of power, enjoying the luxury of being able to just buy that electricity from neighbor nuclear powerhouse France?

  • 1

    zichi

    The pro nuke energy supporters will think of every reason why we should used nuke energy. The anti nuke energy supporters will think of every reason why we should not use nuke energy. Extreme elements and so called experts from both camps will lie or bend the truth for their own reasons.

    Now, if the anti nuke supporters get it wrong, what will happen compared with when pro nuke supporters get it wrong? Another Fukushima! Another Chernobyl! Another Three Mile Island?

    Nuke power isn't worth the risk, and surly anyone can see that after the deadly nuke disaster at Fukushima. Are people's memories getting so short?

    Not only the problem of nuke power generation but also the millions and millions of tons of spent fuel which will remain hot for more than 10,000 years.

  • -1

    Asagao

    Hey don't worry, another accident is bound to happen, so nature will slowly close them down.

  • 0

    Farmboy

    @Yogizuna Thanks... I'll try that.

  • 0

    Serrano

    No choice, pal.

  • 2

    zichi

    I'm a former electrical engineer and measurement and industrial control engineer. I have some experience of power generation but none of it with nuke power. I do have experience of working in dangerous heavy chemical plants and I have seen bad industrial accidents and disasters. I have seen plant management cutting safety corners for the sake of costs or profits.

    With nuke energy, I sat on the fence for more than 30 years. Not for, not against. Not even after the Chernobyl disaster which I lived through while living in the UK. I dismissed the Chernobyl disaster because I decided it was a badly designed and operated nuke energy plant.

    Since the Fukushima nuke disaster, I have gotten off the fence. If power generating companies in a country like Japan, are willing to cut safety corners for the sake of costs and profits, what's happening in other countries?

    The radiation from Chernobyl spread all over Europe and I think Canada and America too? The radiation from Fukushima is spreading to America and as even reached Europe. For the moment, not dangerous levels but what is a dangerous level?

    Like oil, yellow cake for uranium supplies will have a life cycle. Oil is suppose to dry up by something like 2050 and yellow cake will all be used up by the end of this century.

    If that is the case, what are we leaving future generations? Millions and millions of tons of spent nuke fuel and nuke waste. They will wonder what madness drove us to use nuke energy.

    If we are interested in the security of our countries then we should be even more concerned about the security of the whole planet and all those future generations.

  • 0

    paulinusa

    Yes, the current situation dictates that they can't abandon nuclear this quickly. If it does happen it will be over many,many years.

  • 0

    vctokyo

    japan never put renewable energy as priority and no one ever used LED or solar power or even thought about power saving before the fukushima debacle. This country sucked up energy like anything and never thought about where all of it came from or the enormous risks. Now that they've experienced firsthand the catastrophic mess, I dont know why and how they still cant come to the conclusion that nuclear power is not the long term solution. I feel Japanese people are alittle spoilt in that they always feel they are entitled to everything and expect to have everything. Sometimes you cant have it both ways and in this case, I dont know if any lesson has been learnt from fukushima...we'll continue to have power plants on earthquake prone coastlines, with superficial enhancements in safety, but are we simply just waiting for the next accident to happen. I wonder if peoples minds would change if Tokyo became inhabitable.

    I am thankful at least that our politically battered leader Kan has stood his ground and stood up to childish political wrangling and at least taken some steps to reduce reliance on nuclear power. Whilst it is still early, i like the chinese proverb that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one small step...lets just hope it heads in the right direction.

  • 5

    zichi

    "I feel Japanese people are a little spoilt in that they always feel they are entitled to everything and expect to have everything."

    That sounds more like Americans who consume 4.5 times the energy of any other country. Many Japanese are very good at using less energy and I could make a very long list. Using less power didn't start because of the nuke disaster but because of the crisis, they were willing to deal with a 15% power cut back.

    Would Americans or New Yorkers have responded in the same way? I don't think so.

  • 0

    edojin

    No matter how old you are, nuclear power will be with you for the rest of your life. So ... just get used to it ...

  • 0

    sf2k

    edojin

    sounds pretty fatalistic. Just keep doing what you're doing even though you know it's wrong? I don't know what kind of life that is

  • -1

    LFRAgain

    zichi,

    "Nuke power isn't worth the risk, and surly anyone can see that after the deadly nuke disaster at Fukushima. Are people's memories getting so short?"

    "The deadly nuke disaster"?! What in the world are you going on about? Two TEPCO employees died at the plant, and that was because of the quake, not the reactor leaking radioactive meterial. They were crushed to death. Besides them, there are no confirmed deaths as a direct result of the radioactive material released.

    This is not to say that the release of radioactive meterial into the environment wasn't disastrous, particularly with regard to livestock and farmland in the surrounding areas being rendered likely unusable for decades.

    But to incorrectly characterize it as some sort of catastrophic bloodbath lends nothing useful to the debate on what to do next.

  • 3

    zichi

    Besides the two TEPCO young engineers who were found dead in the basement of the turbine hall, probably from the tsunami, there were six Self Defense Force troops who were killed by one of the hydrogen blasts.

    The nuke disaster has left a very large area of Fukushima and other places contaminated with deadly levels of radiation. More than 100,000 people from the exclusion zone have had their lives wrecked and will never be able to return to their former homes and communities.

    Farmers had their livelihoods destroyed with contaminated fields and live stock. The worse food story in the recent history of the country is making people afraid to even buy food.

    Children have been fed school lunches with beef containing radiation while other children from Fukushima have been contaminated by internal radiation. Fukushima schools have become dangerous places.

    Workers at the Fukushima plant have been exposed to levels of radiation well above that is acceptable by international standards.

    About 500 people have died in the evacuation centers because of the stress of it all.

    I never called it a bloodbath since no chopping, slicing or cutting up of people occurred.

    It's too early to try and understand the long term health risks but the Fukushima government has set up it's own health program to offer free health care for the next 30 years, to those affected by the disaster.

    The nuke disaster has been deadly and the number of deaths will continue to increase for years and years down the road.

    Again, I repeat, nuke energy is not worth the risks or costs.

  • 1

    zichi

    Officials in Tomoko Akiha’s hometown of Date, Japan, say radiation levels in her neighborhood are higher than normal but not hazardous unless they stay that high for many years. Ms. Akiha, a mother of two, isn’t convinced.

    At what level is dangerous?

  • 0

    kurisupisu

    Radiation =cancer or cell mutation As to the question of cheap and clean energy?

    Here is one intriguing development for endless and cheap energy

    http://www.metal-supply.com/article/view/67977/newwindturbinetochallengetheworld_market

    3x the output of conventional machines!

  • 1

    Cricky

    A thought, why not become the world leader in non toxic renewable energy. Just a a thought. Might be too much to hope for?

  • 1

    Spidapig24

    I think this statement at the end of the article accurately sums up the situation Japan is facing. >Tange, the Ehime University professor, remains pessimistic. “We are responsible for having created this kind of society,” he said with a sarcastic laugh, “a society that doesn’t tolerate opposition.”

    Given that the incompetents in government and that run these NPP's are able to do as they please without massive sweeping outrage then nothing will change. If this accident occurred in any other supposed democratic country tell me there would not be outrage, massive protests demanding the closures, in this situation a government that didnt listen to the people would be out at the next election. But here in Japan there are some small protests by a minority of the people who are willing to make a stand but the vast majority of Japanese are to apathetic to do anything about it.

    This quote from the article sums it up perfectly >“I wonder what would happen if we didn’t have electricity,” she said. “Our entire lifestyles would change.”

    Guess what your entire lifestyles have changed already, parts of your country are contaminated by radiation, your food supply is compromised, your children in these areas are at great risk as are the rest of the people in these areas and some may say in the rest of Japan too. The situation isnt controlled and what really has been learnt from it. You are living on a knifes edge waiting for the next big earthquake and you havent learnt your lessons. And your worried your lifestyle would change, wake up people your lifestyle has already changed you just havent realised it yet.

  • 2

    marcelito

    Agree with zichi and spidapig.. It is very disheartening to me that people are just resigned to keep going with nuclear power as before.. almost everyone I spoke to here in North Kanto is strongly against the nuclear power ( as we are uncomfortably close to Tokaimura and lesser extent Fukushima NPP ) but when I speak with people from further south eg.Kansai the feeling is nowhere near as strong.. its understandable as Fukushima is affecting their lives to a much lesser extent... I watched a TV program last night where a question was posed to a group o students - do you support nuclear power? Roughly half of them answered yes, then the ones who answered yes were asked if they would then accept a nuclear plant next to their house..all of them except one said they wouldn't ...so yappari, it is easy for some to say shoo ga nai , we need the energy so NPP, s have to stay,, but I think most of those those people would answer differently if they were living anywhere in Tohoku/ North Kanto and were personally affected... I really thought what happened at Dai ichi would be a catalyst for a change in Japanese thinking and a united movement / will by both ciitizens and all levels of government towards gradually replacing the nuclear power with renewables...I was naive.. as others have said that is what would probably happen in any western democratic country after an accident of this magnitude... That it is not happening here and momentum appears lost a mere 6 months after Fukushima is a testament to the influence / stranglehold of the nuclear village on the political establishment here and the resignation exhibited by certainly not all, but apparently a large percentage of Japanese public. It really makes one feel blue....

  • 1

    gogogo

    I'm sorry this article is blatant promotion for nuclear power.

  • -1

    JeffLee

    If power generating companies in a country like Japan, are willing to cut safety corners for the sake of costs and profits, what's happening in other countries?

    Japan is unique, uniquely irresponsible. Before Fukushima, there was Monju, Tokaimura, MOX and a host of other fiascos. No other country has such a sorry record on nuke safety as Japan.

    Zichi: Also, Japan's low energy use has been cost-driven, and has little to do with awareness, discipline, etc. Japan's consumers and industries have long paid among the world's highest energy prices. That tends to enforce conservation. And American's ARE doing likewise. Americans are increasingly driving smaller, more fuel efficient cars in line the rising price of gas. So in answer to your questions "would americans do the same?" Well, they are doing the same.

  • -1

    It"S ME

    JeffLee.

    Read the reports from overseas over the last few months and years?

    How problems been covered and how the goverment helped reactors extend their life-span by 20-30yrs over their actual life-span, etc. And those are only from this year.

    The whole industry is a mess and unreliable as was said.

    Nothing unique about japan, inform yourself about what is going on overseas and it will make your toe-nails curl.

    The USA hasn't put a new power-plant online in decades and with an increasing demand(current brownouts, etc) are they likely to retire current plants or extend them?

    Answer it for yourself. And than add in electric cars, etc.

  • 0

    hatsoff

    In a society that frowns upon defiance of the government... (article)

    Of course, that doesn't apply to the bloated, self-satisfied politicians themselves, like Tangaki's LDP and Ichiro Ozawa.

  • -1

    zichi

    By the end of this century the yellow cake for uranium, will be all used up but what will remain for future generations will be millions and millions of tons of nuclear waste which will be hot for thousands and thousands of years.

  • 0

    BurakuminDes

    And nuclear technology is the nation’s pride

    Considering Japan's nuclear history - basically one of tragedy, cover-ups, mistakes and misery - I'm not too sure if this statement is really accurate.

  • 2

    Darren Brannan

    It ain't Japan.. It is the same useless faces from all political parties that steamroll over the people's wishesand a large population of peole who don't vote and don't take to the streets to garner the votes and opinions of thre masses. I think many japanese are so disgusted with the losers who claim to represent them that they have given up.

    Were that there was a ghandi here. We won't work,we won 't eat.. Until we get bettet. All these folks relying on the govt. In tohoku should march to tokyo and keep going until they get something more than half-promises.

    Even Kan operated out of shame.

    Use shame as a weapon and don't stop until all of tohoku haa been relocated and recompensed.

    The Japanese govt will only begin to try to do it's duty when thoroughly shamed on the global stage. I think they are halfway there but the ppl of Fukushima and Iwate and Miyagi have to force the issue instead of waiting for promises and sugggedtions that will never be made real.

  • -1

    zichi

    Japan isn't the country with the most nuke accidents but certainly Fukushima is the worse since Chernobyl.

  • 1

    gogogo

    Japan isn't the country with the most nuke accidents but certainly Fukushima is the worse since Chernobyl.

    Take a read:

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/japan-s-nuclear-disaster-caps-decades-of-faked-safety-reports-accidents.html

  • -2

    herefornow

    Darren Brannan -- great post. I just hope you are not holding your breath for any of that to happen. Japan has raised several generations of people unwilling to lead or take responsibility, caused by the easy life the post-war recovery brought on. Now that a true crisis has emerged, the people are incapable of understanding how to take back their own government and future. They are so used to be told what to do and how to feel that they know no other way. And their isolation prohibits them from understanding what is capable. I mean if communism can fall in Eastern Europe, you'd think that the Japanese people could change a horrendously broken government. But it won't happen. So they'll be dealing with these nuclear issues for decades. Very glad I left.

  • -2

    Deplore

    Amusing to see people go on and on against nuclear power without offering a single viable alternative. What do you propose? Trillions of dollars spent on renewables? Japan can't afford it. Importing hundreds of thousands of tons of coal? Impractical.

  • 0

    hameln

    Amusing to see people go on and on against nuclear power without offering a single viable alternative. What do you propose? Trillions of dollars spent on renewables? Japan can't afford it. Importing hundreds of thousands of tons of coal? Impractical.

    Gheotermal energy might be a good resource, but it needs lots of research. On the other site even if it doesn't become viable solution, there would be lots of more information of geology, so it isn't completely wasted effort. The other practical solution might be tidal energy. Just looking the map Japan have some good spots for it, but maybe I am missing something.

  • 1

    Elbuda Mexicano

    Japan is a TICKING TIME BOMB, we need to shut all of these EVIL nuclear power plants down ASAP and switch to any but NUCLEAR energy ASAP! Just my humble opinion folks.

  • 0

    zichi

    Currently, geothermal generates about 1% of the total power but this can be increased to a maximum of about 15%.

    Coal, gas and oil are not renewable energy. But they are all still used for power generation. Gas and oil from the Middle East, coal from Australia.

    Many new ways to generate energy are on the immediate horizon and could become available during the next 10 years.

    The country could be generating 50% of it's power from renewables.

    It's going to cost trillions of yen just to clean up one badly designed nuke plant.

  • 0

    marcelito

    It's going to cost trillions in long term - Yeah.. and? The nuclear industry received trillions through govt subsidies, tax breaks and kickbacks over the years ... Why shouldn't governments spend money on clean energy sources? Certainly better than throwing up hands in the air and continuing on with nuclear as if nothing happened- all the while praying and hoping the next quake doesn't strike near another NPP... As zichi says - it's going to cost trillions of yen just to clean up one damaged plant, not counting the cost associated with future waste processing , storage etc...

  • -1

    cactusJack

    You know they won't learn from the Fukushima disaster. Already on the road to "business as usual".

  • 1

    Nessie

    Read that as "still ticking with nuclear power".

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