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IOC chief: Japan must solve power shortage to host Games

35 Comments

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“The IOC will follow the evolution and we trust the Japanese will find a solution for that. They’re one of the most important economies of the world, so we believe they can handle that.”

yes, they will generate huge power (will "switch on" ALL nuclear plants) as soon venue for 2020 games is fixed.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

Tact! He seems to have been especially careful not to push nuclear as a source of reliable power.

He is leaving it up to the Japanese to find a comfortable mix of power sources. Once a broad-based supply looks likely then it will be possible to 'fix' the venue.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

The IOC is firing a warning shot across Japan's bow and this very well could become a political hot potato particularly for Tokyo and Ishihara.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

This will either push japan to develop more sustainable safe technology for electricity or they will just turn on the nuke plants, lets hope they use their heads and choose the former

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Tact! He seems to have been especially careful not to push nuclear as a source of reliable power.

He must stay neutral, he's the IOC president. Besides, it's unnecessary: the only way Japan is gonna cover those 30% NPPs provided in the short-term is by turning the NPPs back on. Period.

He is leaving it up to the Japanese to find a comfortable mix of power sources. Once a broad-based supply looks likely then it will be possible to 'fix' the venue.

Or he is tactfully saying either Japan turns NPPs back on (or finds a short-term miraculous 30% replacement) or it won't host the 2020 Olympics.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Actually, there is not much problem with regard to the power supply in Tokyo, even in summer this year.

It seems to me that some japanese official just used the mouth of french-speaking Rogge for their domestic objective.

-4 ( +5 / -9 )

I've always wondered, besides the power problem (which I hope doesn't result in the restarting of nuclear plants, though I wouldn't be surprised if it did), how would Japan handle the problems of logistics and accommodation if the Olympics were to be held here? It's hard enough squeezing into trains during peak hours... what more with hundreds of thousands of poor unsuspecting amazed and bewildered tourists? And booking accommodations? One can only imagine that if the Olympics were to be announced to be held in Japan, that every major hotel will be booked out within the week (if not the day) of the announcement.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I hope this is the dagger that ends the Tokyo bid.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Oh no. Japan will do it all with cute windmills and solar panels. Just as our local anti-nuke activists about it.

-3 ( +6 / -9 )

Maybe rather than waste enormous amounts of money in getting these games and the associated infrastructure the government could put this money and construction efforts to better uses. Maybe they could for example spend it on the people still suffering in the north of the country. Maybe spend it on remedying the smoking mess that was once a NPP. Maybe on getting some of the many thousands of homeless off the streets. You know the minor little projects that are meaningless compared to the olympics.

Wake up Japan and get your head out of the sand. Maybe waste this money and effort when you get those things sorted out.

10 ( +14 / -4 )

Hosting the game for 2020 seems like a bad idea.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

nandakandamanda: "He is leaving it up to the Japanese to find a comfortable mix of power sources."

Not really, because whether intentional or not, the government will jump on this as yet another reason why the reactors must be restarted. There's no way they'd to the smart thing and think, "Okay, time to get those alternative sources in the works NOW! They can put a new stadium together for the olympics in a couple of years, no problem, but ask them to build plants for geo-thermal or other ways of getting fuel and suddenly it'll take 'decades'.

4 ( +6 / -2 )

if they host, I will rent out two bedrooms for a very high fee! breakfast and lunch pail included.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

smithinjapan: isn't geothermal mostly under national parks? Solar and wind aside, what real green alternatives are there that don't require decades of R&D?

-4 ( +2 / -6 )

Great logic behind this:

Build power plants for alternative sources of power, not because it's the smart thing to do, but because you want to get a stupidly expensive international event held in your country when you have a lot of much more important things to spend money on already.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

London is using gigawatts and gigawatts of portable generators for their Olympics this year anyway since the U.K. grid is inadequate even on a good day, this isn't really a problem.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Power shortage would be no problem and it could be solved by 2020, but most Japanese don't want such Olympic games here in Tokyo except Ishihara. I think the games would be held somewhere else.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Thinking about it from a purely financial perspective, do the games actually make a profit for the country they are held in? They seem to spend vast sums in just getting the games, so I was wondering...

And are all the stories of ghost towns and stadiums going to rack n ruin after the games true?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

If I was the IOC, the power issue would be the least of my concerns. I would be making comments on say, perhaps, getting the Fukushima under control... Let alone food sources, water sources...

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

OMG, most places go in debt from the games. Whole "we'll use the stadium for this, that for that" but at the end of the day, these places sit, underused and a huge burden to the locals. Look at Japan with WC stadiums.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

So, common Japan! This is your chance to make the 2020 games the first one run on renewable energy. Wouldn't that be something special?

3 ( +4 / -1 )

“The IOC will follow the evolution and we trust the Japanese will find a solution for that. They’re one of the most important economies of the world, so we believe they can handle that.”

A single event such as olympics should be no reason to switch on nukes. please. please...

1 ( +2 / -1 )

??? What would Rogge know about available power in Japan 8 years from now? Am I missing something, or is he missing something? Are we all missing something? What is he really trying to say or not say? The man sounds evasive and at the same time trying not to offend Japan directly. Politics in play.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Will he be quiet? Japan will do just fine with no nuclear power stations. The IOC can go elsewhere.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

"Japan's wavering power supply"

Japan's power supply is not wavering, every time I flick on the light switch, the light comes on, etc.

If they need any extra power, they can just borrow some from the awesome Japanese women's volleyball team.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Thursday that Japan’s wavering power supply is a concern for hosting the 2020 Games.

Nice play Jacques Rogge, NICE EXCUSE. Japan is an earthquake prone country.

Nuclear Reactors are DANGEROUS. Japan is just to dangerous for Olympics. That is what it comes down to.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

I get the feeling that the IOC will be looking closely at how Japan handles this Summer once the heat really sets in and will base their decision on whther Japan can remain a candidate for the 2020 Olympics based on that. They can't wait until 2019 to decide whether Japan will be able to support such a huge international event.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Yes! Let's all rally for this 2020 event to be the First alternative energy Olympics. China is willing to supply 10 million solar panels at cost. Germany can supply engineers. Germany has already wrote the Feed in Tariff law Japan just adopted, thanks to PM Naoto Kan & Hermann Scheer. . Seriously, if we all help Japan go 100% solar we can do this.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Jacques Rogge may well be throwing a dagger at the antinuclear movement. So he's worried about nuclear power but not about radioactive concrete that will be used in any new construction? No concerns about food that is tested for contamination by blokes who sell the food for a living?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I want to see Japan recover from their 3 atomic disasters, by developing Solar 100%. I do not think the Olympics is a good idea. I like the idea of Japan turning off its nukes --- forever, and I like the idea of Japan going 100% solar by 2035, which PM Naoto Kan said is possible.

Forget the Olympics. Ask China for a million panels at cost.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I find it funny that this article appears next to the "photo of the day" which shows Tokyo Sky Tree lit up at night. The irony!

2 ( +2 / -0 )

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