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Hashimoto reverses stance; OKs limited restart of Oi reactors

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but has been under intense pressure from the government and business groups to change its mind on the issue

so finally it was Central Force and Hashimoto had no choice.

.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wow, I wonder how much that cost?

10 ( +14 / -3 )

The strong man with his army of thousands of disciples cahnges his mind? What kind of leader would that be?

Isn't he a tough, big guy who speaks his mind?

He shows he is nothing.

14 ( +15 / -1 )

It's not a Mexican standoff now! The government has all the weapons pointed at it's people, while they have nothing but an eccentric leader to fight for them.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

What could possibly go wrong?

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The people do not want radiation plants. Be done with it.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

"limited restart" Silly and unrealistic. We have to restart nuclear plants. We live in a capitalistic country where corporations are important money generators and sources of government revenues. Those who are opposing are mostly not paying taxes or a very little.

-10 ( +2 / -12 )

Germany shut down 8 nukes, in response to Fukushima, because the homeowners had installed millions of solar panels. There was no government investment. This was all done by homeowners buying panels, harvesting solar energy and making $$ millions from selling the energy to the steel mills making wind mills. Germany made this revolutionary change from investors determined to go solar & stop nukes. Germany is now the greenest nation on earth. They will probably be totally on solar & renewables by 2050. If Germany can do it, so can Japan & the US.

11 ( +13 / -3 )

He is a realist finally. But I'd like to know a vision of where he'd like to lead to and how he views the response by the gorvenment.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

What's funny is that his 2000 students have just finished memorizing their tough stance on the issue. Would be great if some of them never got the memo and are still practicing Hashimoto Creed speeches on street corners - until someone has to tell them that Sensei has changed his mind.

Prediction (and not such a brave one) - with this, opposition will cease, and everyone will be happy with their air-conditioning, and solar etc will be forgotten.

You'd be surprised about how many people use aircon for their dogs.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

No more talk of Germany please. It is not relevant to this discussion.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Common sense says that until VIABLE alternative methods to replace the loss of power that the reactors provided the reactors should be brought back online.

However since I personally believe that neither the central government nor Hashimoto and his cronies can be trusted, the IAEA MUST be brought in to verify, independently without ANY government intrusions, the findings that the reactors can be restarted safely.

The central government must also provide funding NOW for investment into alternative energy sources that do not use fossil fuels which would also put an additional burden on an already over-taxed, over-burdened economy.

Priorities MUST be laid out for everyone to see and have a chance to debate them to let the public decide what is best for them.

Alarmists screeching can not be allowed to dictate policy.(Wishful thinking I know!)

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Paid and bought, just like the rest of that scum. He folded, so he will fold again. And again. And again.

central government’s assurance that safety standards have been met

Assurances? We had those pre-311 already, they weren't worth anything back then either.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I sense a major payout occurred. Wonder how much he got.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Well, there you have it again.

Want to be elected again? We need to the power to run our pachinko centers. We can't afford to have systems down at JRA for even a day. That's millions perhaps billions of yen lost. How can compete with foreign automakers if we can't use power to run our factories?

Screw public safety. It's money for the rich or NUCLEAR bust for the poor.

Once things go back to the way they were all this talk of change and alternative fuel will end.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

The Japan that can say no, well...actually no.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Finally a smart move by Hashimoto. Without those reactors online, there will be blackouts. And with the extremely hot summer coming soon, a lot of sick, elderly, and children will die from the heat. Hospitals will also be affected, and the economy will suffer even more.

Hashimoto did the right thing by not listening to Japan bashers who are trying to ruin the country by using the Fukushima disaster as a means to push Japan to an idiotic state of fear of nuclear power. It is still the cleanest, cheapest, and SAFEST form of electrical production for the amount of electricity it produces.

-9 ( +2 / -11 )

Brown envelopes LOFL

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Wow... SOMEONE was promised something pretty big. I'd keep a close eye out for the Central Government suddenly supporting some legislature by Hashimoto. Seriously, the guy wasn't okay with the government's safety standards yesterday, but suddenly he is? Maybe Hashimoto isn't the decisive and strong leader some seem to see him for after all and is in fact just another J-politician; I mean, isn't flip-flopping and back-room dealing part of package?

5 ( +5 / -0 )

@ Yubaru The central government must also provide funding NOW for investment into alternative energy sources that do not use fossil fuels which would also put an additional burden on an already over-taxed, over-burdened economy.

The central government has been investing (using tax money) in R&D and implementation of solar panel, wind power generators and other alternatives. Unfortunately, an accident like Fukushima was necessary to make people wake up to the necessity of the development and use of alternative and renewable energy. Since the R&D and the efforts to introduce the alternatives widely are on-going, we may have better technology and a much wider use of alternative energy sources. Until then, as much as we dislike it, we need what is available at the moment and we all know what the present alternative is.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

There is no free thinking within the J-gov, or J for that matter.. everyone operates as a unit, single, whole body of collective oyaji incompetence and stupidity. So as the old saying goes, the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. Hashi is the nail. This hammer takes many forms, sometimes in the form of money.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

SICK!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I realy dont know how to react towards this informaton, has he truly considered the implications if anything adverse should occur once the reactors are restarted? It seems like a case of sods law, dammed if you do,dammed if you dont

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hashimoto reverses stance; OKs limited restart of Oi reactors

Translated = "The brown cash stuffed paper bag has landed"...

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Oh, wait, doesn't he want to become PM one day?

After that he can become anti-nuke, like Kan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

No surprises here.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The majority in J want solar power to replace nukes. The German homeowners shut down the G nukes by installing millions of solar panels. If the majority in J want to shut down the nukes, they have to install a million solar panels and start using the new Feed in Tariff.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

When will the Americans wake up & install solar so they can follow the German leadership & shut down the US nukes?

-1 ( +4 / -5 )

Zichi, I fear you are correct in you assumption

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I see no one providing their enlightenment on this:

The local community has already approved the restart, arguing that it is vital to the town’s economic survival.

Is this local community the people that live in Oi? If they think it's better to restart the reactors and they're the ones living there, how does the brown bag conspiracy theory fit? (I know, it's not that far fetched to be called a conspiracy theory, but i'm curious.)

Are the locals so insane (maybe radiation fried their brains) that they think economic survival is more important than human survival, or perhaps most of the anti-nuclear yapping is mostly unfounded, knee-jerk and alarmist?

I'm not dealing in absolutes here, i still think IAEA oughta have a strong, neutral, specialized say on the matter (of NPPs world-wide).

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

i still think IAEA oughta have a strong, neutral, specialized say

Well, we know that isn't going to happen as long as amakudari Amano is running it.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Zichi. Your last comment is absolutely correct.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Ahem, yeah I was sure of that.. Wonder what colour the envelope had...

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Hashimoto, holding to what he knows is true, with the rigidity of a sapling in a high wind, turns 180 degrees in the other direction.

Or is this what he was going to do anyway, but he just SAID he opposed restarting the reactors?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

These people are idiots if they think starting a nuclear reactor is like starting up your car engine. To safely start (not restart, as these plants have been down too long to restart normally) a nuclear plant, you need about two months at minimum, usually 6mo to two years before the site is ready for commercial power.

@noname with no engineering knowledge. Solar is costly and impractical at best, though currently it is economically and manufacturing wise impossible. it would take the entire decade to produce enough panels to meet just 75% of the nuclear capacity, at a cost of $1 trillion dollars before land, battery, inverter costs and infrastructure rebuilding are taken into account. In total, you would be looking at more than doubling the government's tax burden, as well as tripling or quadrupling electricity bills (watch companies leave as electricity eats up 30% of their revenue).

But lets actually look at the germans you so love. For one, the 25 GWe installed has an average of 11% capacity (meaning at any one time you are expecting 2.5GWe available), compared to about 30% for nuclear (i.e. one of every 3 plants is 100% compared to 1 of 10 for solar). Even if they have good numbers there, solar actually only accounts for 3% of energy production, contrasting with almost 18% for nuclear (and that's after they shut down half of the nuclear plants and switched on their coal burning plants).

As for things about IAEA, the agency has already certified all those reactor designs (since there aren't many designs to consider). The station in Fukui is in a place with much lower intensity shake, high above sea level, and in a relatively sparsely populated area. It, along with the Hokkaido plant, are very safe geographically.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

And NYC has fault lines running under every major hospital (quite fascinating read actually). Not all faults are the same, and the first tests showed that fault line to be more or less dead. As for the height part, that section of Japan rarely sees high waves due to the geography of the plates in that direction. You need to get closer to China/Russia for an earthquake zone that may produce waves, and by that distance you have both time and dissipation on your side.

-5 ( +3 / -8 )

Leading international scientists produce research to say that the effects of radiation have been grossly exaggerated...

Is, apparently, off topic.

Are we only allowed to post unsubstantiated claims by non scientific people such as the exalt blogger? MIT and Oxford not credible enough?

0 ( +3 / -3 )

I don't know what's up with all this talk about earthquakes in the comments. Pretty much the point of the articule here is that the local Osaka government has been shown to make a marked reversal from their previous stance. This implies two things.

1) That the local government has received confirmation and/or proof that the Oi reactors have safety standards acceptable enough to withstand earthquakes/tsunami, proof that is solid enough to change a stance that was previously clearly anti-nuclear.

2) They have been tricked, lied to, bribed or otherwise coerced into changing their minds while the reactors are still vulnerable should an earthquake happen.

-> Whether or not an earthquake MIGHT happen is irrelevant. If the Oi reactors are safe to be restarted, then they have to be able to withstand an earthquake. If they are not able to withstand an earthquake, they are not safe enough. Earthquake, fault lines and tsunami are all PART of what the safety regulations are supposed to take into account.

The crux of the matter for citizens reading this news is whether or not Hashimoto was genuinely convinced, or if there is something else altogether. I doubt we will ever find out, but for everyone's sake, I hope it's the former. If an earthquake strikes Osaka/Kobe this summer, and the new safety standards at the Oi reactors fail to prevent a meltdown, it will certainly doom Japan.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

These supposed to happen black outs...do they occur because the power companies can not or do not (on purpose) produce more energy? Power companies have the duty to provide enough energy, so when they cannot, they should be put out of business...oh wait, something with monopolist... Why can't this so called 'technological advanced country' come up with a solution to deal with the difference of the 50 and 60 hrz in Japan so electricity can be transported easily from south to north and viceversa?

And please, cut the crap about the CO2 which is just a major scam and excuse to raise taxes worldwide. My plants in the garden are graving for CO2! More, more! Yeah, but it gets hotter every year,duh....Switch of the air cons, the ones in houses, offices and cars. Ever walked by a car during summer that had a guy sleeping in there and its airco running? You can fry an egg there. Remove the vending machines that offer cool drinks but are well positioned in the hot sun. Turn of the numerous screens. Gets quieter as well. Would be nice. Switch off the TV, wasn't that one of the recommendations that Nomura did recently (but of course didn't make it to the 7 o clock news...). I guess people don't want to change here unless they are being ordered. Old habits don't die here. It is culture! (that is always the excuse)

By the way, nuclear power plants worldwide dump their hot water 24/7 into the oceans. And that for some decades now. Just use the numerous hot water springs here, you just have to heat up a bit extra and there you have it, almost free energy.

Had to get this off my chest.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Oh I am just shocked! Shocked. Someone should track down his private bank account and see how much the deposit was for. Seven kids cost a lot these days!

Jackass. I can't state how much this man disgusts me.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

@ -> Whether or not an earthquake MIGHT happen is irrelevant. If the Oi reactors are safe to be restarted, then they have to be able to withstand an earthquake. If they are not able to withstand an earthquake, they are not safe enough. Earthquake, fault lines and tsunami are all PART of what the safety regulations are supposed to take into account.

Maybe it is reasonable to remember that there have been thousands of erthquakes before the reactors were stopped. They seemed to withstand the shakes but after the Fukushima, meny people are too nervous about safety and thus want to know that safety is 100% ensured. But how can you say that something in life is 100% safe, really?

1 ( +2 / -2 )

zichi - The problem with the pro nuclear gang is that they seem to have tunnel vision and can see no other energy than nuclear even though prior to 3/11, nuclear energy only generated about 30% of total power and was only about 11% of the total energy cake.

Seriously though, how would you propose those 30% be replaced? Assuming real safety checks are done, i'd go for restarting the NPPs, but that's not my call, i'm just a digital bystander.

Meanwhile, i'm all for keeping up with the R&D on renewable energies like solar, wind, geothermal and wave. But none of these technologies is mature enough to compete with nuclear yet.

This isn't tunnel vision, is it doc? :)

-1 ( +3 / -3 )

"The problem with the pro nuclear gang is that they seem to have tunnel vision and can see no other energy than nuclear even though prior to 3/11, nuclear energy only generated about 30% of total power and was only about 11% of the total energy cake"

At the risk of getting record negative ratings I will try to answer this. I'm pro nuclear but as I've always stated I'm anti any earthquake prone country having them. However I would state that Japan should have them until there USA reasonable alternative. Coal, gas, fossil fuels are not a reasonable alternative. They are responsible for more deaths than nuclear has ever been or will be. And continue to damage the environment and people's health on a daily basis. It's clear that Japan has relied too heavily on nuclear fuel and that Japan has way too many nuclear plants.

I'd suggest a full over haul of the power system in the country. Look at how many nuclear power plants are absolutely necessary (you're wrong if you think it's zero) until we can get to 100% green energy. I'd even go as far as considering to build those plants from scratch to ensure that they have 21st century technology as opposed to mid 20th and they should be built with a view of closing them as soon as it is feasible to do.

Having power cuts in the height of a Japanese summer should not be an option, neither should the need to reduce home power consumption by 15%. If the temperature starts topping the 35 degree mark then people will die.

There are obvious reasons why having nuclear power in Japan is a bad thing, there are far more reasons why having no power is a worse thing.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

"The problem with the pro nuclear gang is that they seem to have tunnel vision and can see no other energy than nuclear even though prior to 3/11, nuclear energy only generated about 30% of total power and was only about 11% of the total energy cake"

At the risk of getting record negative ratings I will try to answer this. I'm pro nuclear but as I've always stated I'm anti any earthquake prone country having them. However I would state that Japan should have them until there USA reasonable alternative. Coal, gas, fossil fuels are not a reasonable alternative. They are responsible for more deaths than nuclear has ever been or will be. And continue to damage the environment and people's health on a daily basis. It's clear that Japan has relied too heavily on nuclear fuel and that Japan has way too many nuclear plants.

I'd suggest a full over haul of the power system in the country. Look at how many nuclear power plants are absolutely necessary (you're wrong if you think it's zero) until we can get to 100% green energy. I'd even go as far as considering to build those plants from scratch to ensure that they have 21st century technology as opposed to mid 20th and they should be built with a view of closing them as soon as it is feasible to do.

Having power cuts in the height of a Japanese summer should not be an option, neither should the need to reduce home power consumption by 15%. If the temperature starts topping the 35 degree mark then people will die.

There are obvious reasons why having nuclear power in Japan is a bad thing, there are far more reasons why having no power is a worse thing.

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Tomorrow he will be promoting nuclear power. What a flip flopper.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

JaneM, nuclear reactors have only been going for some 40 years.

Earthquakes have always been here, small and large, and they will continue to make themselves felt.

Nuclear power stations in Japan have been hit frequently and everyone breathes a sigh of relief when the shaking stays within the parameters.

Unfortunately a larger than expected earthquake hit Kariwa Kashiwazaki (the most powerful nuclear plant in the world) in 2008, the shaking way over design spec. This was shocking enough, and it did a lot of damage, inside and out.

Then last year an even bigger one wiped out Fukushima and caused three melt-downs and a potential spent fuel pool collapse.

The populace, who believed that nuclear power generation here was 100% safe, have suddenly lost their enthusiasm for nuclear power. No, it can never be 100% safe, as you say, and that is what now frightens people when the government says "it is safe, so start 'em up!"

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Schopenhauer

"limited restart" Silly and unrealistic. We have to restart nuclear plants. We live in a capitalistic country where corporations are important money generators and sources of government revenues. Those who are opposing are mostly not paying taxes or a very little.

Then why are only 27% of the industries against abandoning nuclear? You don't speak for the industries.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The local community has already approved the restart, arguing that it is vital to the town’s economic survival.

Again, can anyone provide an opinion on what "local community" is in this context? I assume it means the people who live there.

(PS: while it may make the inner child in you happy, downgrading comments doesn't constitute as "opinion" per se.)

0 ( +3 / -3 )

Hashimoto is quite rich, so I doubt it was a bribe of cash so much as a promise of political favour, or perhaps opening a new 'law-juku' school in Tokyo like the one that has made a lot of waves in Osaka. In any case I'm sure he was guaranteed more political clout in Tokyo in the future, particularly by bending over for the people currently in office there. He has to wait his turn, after all, in the game of musical thrones.

Anyway, as zichi said, they won't be turning off any restarted reactors at the end of summer when the 'threat of blackouts' they so adamantly fear-monger about now is done. Instead, companies like TEPCO and other electric companies that are salivating at the mouth because KEPCO is the only one reaping all the benefits will start talking about potential blackouts for the coming winter and the need to restart THEIR reactors as well.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Hasimoto's flipping is not surprising - for a politician. I doesn't demonstrate leadership. What I'm curious about it - what is being done to provide other sources of power NOW, while all the hand wringing is going on? Or will restarting reactors be a forgone conclusion because nobody wants to spend money on alternatives NOW?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hashimoto is mindful of his popularity, hence the chameleon streak.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I get the feeling that Japan is going to miss out on making a breakthrough. This is a critical time for Japan, and looks like they missed it. Hashimoto did a 180, and probably everywhere will follow suit. Once the nuclear reactors are running and everything's running, there won't be a sense of urgency to develop other means. So, business as usual. Unless of course there's another nasty earthquake.

"And with the extremely hot summer coming soon, a lot of sick, elderly, and children will die from the heat. Hospitals will also be affected, and the economy will suffer even more."

There's got to be a way of doing this. I'm not elderly, a child or in hospital. I'd gladly change my lifestyle for babies, old folks, sick folks, and so that factories and business can run. The fact is that some people and places have electricity needs totally different to others. Maybe I'm actually more patriotic than a lot of Japanese, - I'm happy to sacrifice as much comfort as possible for Japan.

I'm surprised at how many modern people don't realize that it's possible to use a laptop or read a book under a shady tree, instead of being in a concrete box with air-conditioning. I'm also surprised at how many lights people seem to think they need. And some people need to get out of the house more anyway.

Where there's a will there's a way. The trouble is that Japan (govts and companies) always come up with across the board rules. Some institutions can do without more electricity than others. So having 10 or 20% rules and fines isn't the best way. Simply, maybe places can't reduce by 10% without undue physical or economic suffering, whereas other people/places could probably cut by half if they really put their minds to it.

AKB48, please do something.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Hashimoto reverses stance; OKs limited restart of Oi reactors

..............and that is how Japan restarted the nuclear reactors against the wishes of the people. As others were busy planning for alternative sources of electricity, huge sums of money changed hands to win die-hards such as Hashimoto ! The rest is history: what started as switching on power in case of summer emergency, ended up with all the 54 nuclear reactors being switched on under the pretext that there were many other unforeseen needs for electricity that sprang up! The much touted establishment of nuclear watchdog never hapened. We just pray that another nuclear catastropgy does not take place. Reported December 2012.

0 ( +2 / -1 )

i told u people all that demonstration are useless.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Hashimoto didn't actually "do" a 180. He went back to his original stance of being pro-nuclear. The question is, was he really against it or was he using this as a bargaining chip for something - be it money or like Smith said, promises of power in Tokyo? Perhaps support from people if he ran for PM in a few years? God knows he's a snake so I wouldn't put anything past him. Osakans need to put him on his ass and out in the cold but I doubt the old folks will. They think that because he's young, he'll change things. He's worse than all the old guys put together because he's not willing to "wait his turn" and not make changes. He wants changes and he wants them NOW - sadly, they aren't changes that are good for Japan nor the public.

2 ( +3 / -0 )

Industry minister Yukio Edano has gone on record as opposing temporary restarts of Oi units #3&4.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Doesn't really matter what Edano thinks though. He blew his chance with the public with his back and forth after 3/11. He's also not a key decision maker.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

The best demonstration people can do against nukes, is to install 10 solar panels on your roof. Just do it. That would cost ¥10 to ¥15 million?????

Zichi - how much is it costing to bail out TEPCO? You don't have to install ten panels. Even a kilowatt per household taken off the grid at the midday peak would probably be enough to cause the panic about summer peak load to vanish. You can't turn nuclear reactors (or even coal fired power stations) on and off at the drop of a hat to handle peak load, but solar panels are made for the job. Needing extra capacity in the hottest part of the day is not about base load generation.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Harper, you clearly don't understand electrical engineering. You simply cannot just add random amounts of power to the lines, that would increase volatility and possible electrical surges (which will take down the system, as well as possibly damage electrical equipment and even your panels). Though you can't turn off a reactor, you can idle it and send that steam nowhere, producing zero electricity for however long you want. On the other hand, you have absolutely no control over solar, either the sun it out or it isn't, and even a few clouds in the sky are a logistical nightmare as the power goes up and down faster than the stockmarket.

The biggest electrical consumption is also NOT at midday (peak office use is, but not residential), it's actually at the end of the day when people are returning home (between extra trains, elevator use, people turning on the AC/heating, turning on computers and TVs, turning on lights, etc). That is also when solar panels are pretty much useless, since Japan is in the wrong time zone. For Solar panels to be of any use, the time zone needs to be shifted -2 hours (to GMT+7), since 4am sunlight is useless, but 7pm sunlight would reduce power consumption by perhaps 10% or more (even without your panels).

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The local people want a restart and if there is a problem they would suffer not Osaka. Solar and wind are not ready and it will be years even if their construction was started today. As my congressman said to me "would love to help you but you can not vote." Look people most Japanese do not want to be a 3rd world country where there is limited electric. When push comes shove the needed plants will come online.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

The biggest electrical consumption is also NOT at midday (peak office use is, but not residential), it's actually at the end of the day when people are returning home (between extra trains, elevator use, people turning on the AC/heating, turning on computers and TVs, turning on lights, etc).

In Japan the peak demand is at around 12pm~6pm, and the it goes down dramatically from there:

http://www.tokyofoundation.org/en/articles/2011/summer-energy-crisis

And thankfully solar still produces enough power even at 6pm. If you don't believe me then check out the solar power proudction in Germany.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

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