Abe supports building new nuclear reactors

I'm in the middle as far as nuclear power in Japan. I think select plants should be reopened ( those situated in the safest locations) and then phased out over many years. But you have to think Abe's "new" plan is less about good, practical energy and more about trying to curry favor with the usual government/industry people and companies.

Well that's a bad start to the New Year. Why in the world would you want to build more nukes with over 50 that have more than enough problems along with spent fuel issues, storage and maintenance costs.

well this is no surprise at all.... the LDP have always been hand in glove with the nuclear power industry

I've said it before and I'll say it again that THORIUM recators will solve two problems.

1.It will power Japan for the best Yen to watt return with the least land use and cleanest power per watt when you take EVERY single factor into consideration. Solar, wind and tide power do more damage then you think and take up way too much land for their return.

2.You can't make or harvest weapons grade materials from Thorium based reactors.

and there's more reasons...

A system by design that when it fails actually shuts its self down. Look it up people. The only reason it doesn't exist in any real form today is because it can't be used to make a nuclear bomb so it was largely ignored during the Manhattan project in the U.S. and in the development of nuclear power stations that followed. Those HUGE contracts that builders of the current old tech reactors like GE, Westinghouse and Toshiba and the even BIGGER waste disposal contracts to handle the 97% waste left over after the spent fuel rods are done is another set of reasons.

Those are BIG $$$,$$$,$$$,$$$ contracts that would fissle out (sorry, couldn't resist that one) if Thorium reactors started to pop up every where.

Just think about how big oil companies and auto makers joined together to stalled battery technology so the cars would continue to use oil and the status quo assembly line would not need to be retooled. There were electric cars over 80 years ago and then nothing really until just recently. Why? The first electric cars were built in 1830's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_electric_vehicle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historyoftheelectricvehicle

Patent squatting and buy outs held battery technology back. The same sort of lobbist rule hold true for Thorium.

Here are a few links but you'll find many more online. PUSH for THORIUM as a safer, cleaner power source!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidfluoridethorium_reactor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoriumfuelcycle

http://www.gizmag.com/thorium-nuclear-power/18204/

Abe Abe... First think about rebuilding of 22.960 houses in disaster areas. But this was obvious that Abe come with this stupid investment. His party was partly always supported from dormations of nuclear industry and I'm sure voters knew for whom they vote... This is what you choose Japan, this is what you get. To the thorium dude on this pool. Your subject is in wrong pool.

What worries me most is Abe's willingness to already reject popular public opinion on certain issues believing he and the LDP have earned a mandate to impose their right wing philosophies. Obviously his "humble" acceptance speech, where he admitted that the election result was more a denunciation of the ousted government rather than an endorsement of his party's policies, was less than sincere. Scary times ahead!

nostromo : well this is no surprise at all.... the LDP have always been hand in glove with the nuclear power industry

Touchee !

This was always in the works with an LDP government, especially with their incestuous ties to the construction industries. We might as well just pay our taxes directly to Kajima, Taisei Corp, Nippon Steel and other construction companies.

This is not surprising - as has been stated, the LDP have a long history of close ties and support to the nuclear power industry. What remains unsaid, but perhaps is an even stronger rationale, is the desire by Abe, and other right-wing and nationalist politicians, to ensure Japan retains the capability to produce a nuclear weapon.

While Japan has a sufficient stockpile of enriched uranium and plutonium, operating reactors send a subtle yet clear signal to China and others that Japan can quickly "go nuclear" should conditions or threat warrant.

Japan needs to move forward. This guy is like Bush JR. Just taking care of the old guard.

"We will be building them while earning the understanding of the public"

How about getting the approval of the public before building them? Oh wait, the public has already approved the building of new nuclear reactors by voting the LDP back in.

Shame on ABE ! He must be replaced ! NO MORE NUKES !

Trying to explain the risk of Elementary Particles to someone who knows what it means but does not really believes it could even happen to him is nearly impossible. There is a belief that THORIUM is safe. It is not. You are playing Russian roulette with earthquakes, corrupt politicians and bureaucrats for the next major disaster.

As part of my city's (USA) energy planning process, my city is offering more wind power beginning of January 2013.

For about $1.24 a month, I can purchase one block of wind power which equals to 100 kilowatt hours of electricity. To put that into perspective, the typical residencial customers use 600 (kWh) of electricity. So I could purchase 6 blocks of wind power to offset nearly all of my electric use each month. That's a cost of one BIG MAC lunch. By getting a wind power alternative, we help influence future electric generation while building the market for renewal energy. We are already moving forward.

Hope Japan will be able to find the best energy mix for the future. Good luck.

LDP to nuclear industry: Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Nothing new here. As has been said before, Abe and his LDP cronies are pro-nuclear. The fact that Abe wants to build new nuclear power plants is just another way of raking in more money for these corrupt politicians. As the new nuclear facilities are being built, the LDP guys will keep their sticky fingers busy pulling in all kinds of under-the-table money.

No matter what the people of Japan say, the LDP-led government will go ahead with its plan to put Japan back on the nuclear grid. But when they build these new nuclear facilities, let's just hope they make them sturdy and put them in safe places.

Critics have said the LDP was partly responsible for the extent of the Fukushima catastrophe because of a culture of complicity during its more than five-decade rule

MASSIVE UNDERSTATEMENT!!! The ldp are 10,000% responsible for Fukushima, no mistake about it!

All these Japanese ''clown'' government people do is lie to the public so they can get in to power and then they do the complete opposite trying to make things good for themselves why they still have power. They get voted out but laugh to there selves because they made some nice money. If this government cared for Japan's future they would be rebuilding those houses and setting up solar power their in Sendai. Nuke power is not the answer...it is a simple quick fix...a quick fix that this evil government will use to save money but still charge the same on the electricity bill. Meanwhile the electricity company still gets full wage while normal people like me and millions other get ripped off...this government does not care about the generations after..

Like someone said before me....this government is voted in because Japanese listened to their lies again....sigh or there could have been rigged votes....no one knows.

Anyway I just hope this nuclear power thing gets solved....maybe put the waste on the disputed islands? lol

Well folks the ldp once again has told the people of Japan "WE DONT CARE ABOUT YOU AT ALL!!!"

Why on earth anyone votes for them defies all logic, but there in lies the rub dont it, little logic & even less common sense on these isles sadly, Japanese are getting what they deserve

“We will be building them while earning the understanding of the public as to how different they are,”

And once again Abe's arrogance is put forward. So far he's promised to solve the abduction issue while he's in power, fix the economy, change the public's mind on nuclear power, and clean up Fukushima, among other things. He'll succeed in building more nuclear plants because of the LDP ties to construction and his promise to spend a lot of money on said construction, but who's he going to blame all his other failed promises on?

I'm surprised he hasn't quit yet.

His support for new nuclear reactor just shows ABE'S & LDP'S TRUE COLOR. GAMBATTE NIPPON.

He's an Ass.

Good to see Abe is eager to get to work. Yen is already declining, stock market is beginning to rise, nuclear reactors will restart ... all the right things to bring Japan back on track! Go Abe, all the best for 2013!

"New reactors will be totally different "

Will they be using thorium?

“That’s why voters did not trust (candidates) who played word games, like pushing for ‘ending’ nuclear power or ‘graduating’ from nuclear power,” Abe said, according to the Yomiuri.

Abe is taking voters fro granted. Everybody knows Abe's vote was more of a protest vote than that endorsing his policies. People already gave tehir verdict long before Abe assumed power: they want an end to nuclear energy. They voted Abe's government in power maybe hoping for better alternative policies for spur growth and this does not mean encouraging restart or construction of new nuke plants. Because of the complexity of problems and issues, Japanese need new leadership with new thinking and will one day regret why they recyle same regimes; in this case those who promoted nuke energy.

"New reactors will be totally different "

Totally different... Yeah. Go back to high school and study basic science, AbeSan! The same working principle (water kettle) and the same problems (decay heat) with all kinds of nuclear reactors. Solve one or two small problems and there are still a few dozens of the old ones. With the same kind of quake, tsunami and loss of cooling pumps, reactors of every possible design would have failed similarly.

Exactly, Messrs. Weber and zichi. And where is Abe going to put the spent fuel for the bloody reactors he's got? Storage sites are near capacity, the reuse of fuel remains merely a hugely expensive fantasy, and in the most ridiculously optimistic projections can't handle anywhere near all of it.

Very realistic thoughts; no electricity, no Prius. But didn't he say a few days ago that Japan would become nuclear free by 2040? All of a sudden that seems to be a waste of money building nuclear power stations for a mere 27 years.

Did the TBS interviewer ask Abe how much money his party was getting from electricity companies to support the building of new reactors?

Arm chair critics that couldn't do better in their own homes lash out because it makes them feel powerful. Deal with your own house before you go and tell someone how to do their job with facts you can't even grasp. I bet that 100% of you wishing we could go nuke free can't even understand how an electrical grid works. So how do you think green energy will solve the problem? You are so clueless you make yourselves seem just as useless as the ones you are complaining about. Then you don't like the truth so you vote it down. Very mature. What are you, five years old?!?

Moderator: Please do not be impolite to other posters. It reflects badly on yourself.

There are simply so many reasons why the idea to place more reactors in Japan is so wrong. Yet, the strongest one must be that it is the Japanese people do NOT want more potential death and poison in their lives.

Undoubtedly, Abe had this in mind before the election. Why did he not mention it before the election? The answer is obvious. He knew the public did not want this and announcing this would have cost his party votes. Does such an omission constitute a lie?

He knows he won't be in office by the time the next big earthquake comes...

Oh yes, let's put them into mass production and dot the landscape with them. That'll keep the power companies and their shareholders happy - until the next BIG one hits, that is. Not that the majority of the Japanese population can complain, though. After all, they voted Abe back into power.

Johannes WeberJan. 01, 2013 - 10:08PM JST

With the same kind of quake, tsunami and loss of cooling pumps, reactors of every possible design would have failed similarly.

First, surely new reactors will incorporate tsunami walls, and better earthquake resistance (if needed).

Second - some reactors have much better safety measures than the Fukushima ones - CANDUs, for example have numerous active and passive features.