Shaima Khalil
Tokyo correspondent
Reuters
Fukushima’s disaster continues to stay in Japan, recalling painful memories
Japan says that it will increase its dependence on nuclear energy in a major policy change because it seeks to meet the growing demand from electricity sectors such as AI and semiconductors.
An energy plan approved by the cabinet on Tuesday called to “maximize the use of nuclear energy” and abandoned the reference to “reduce dependence on nuclear energy”.
The energy plan, written by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, says that in 2040, nuclear energy should represent 20% of the supply of the Japanese network in 2040, more than double 8.5% share in 2023.
It sometimes happens that the disaster of the Fukushima nuclear power plant from 14 years ago continues to stay above the country, evoking painful memories.
In March 2011, a 9.0 gross earthquake, near the northeast coast of Japan, caused a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people, wiped out of whole cities and flooding the reactors of the factory by Fukushima Daiichi.
Japan now operates 14 commercial nuclear reactors, against 54 before the Fukushima disaster when 30% of the country’s energy came from nuclear sources.
The plan must still be approved by Parliament, where it will be discussed in the coming months.
The country, which imports 90% of its fuel, must turn to nuclear sources as part of its plan to reduce carbon and be autonomous on energy, said Daishiro Yamagiwa, a deputy who was part of a committee energy consultative on the energy level.
EPA
A new energy plan has approved the firm’s calls to “maximize the use of nuclear energy”
“Due to the conflict in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, even fossil fuels have become difficult to buy,” he told BBC. “Japan is a country without energy resources, so we have to use everything available in a balanced way.”
Yamagiwa has added that energy charges increase due to the demand for AI data processing centers and semiconductor factories across the country.
But experts say that increasing nuclear energy dependence will be both risky and costly.
Japan will have to import uranium, which will cost the country and make the country depend on other countries, said Professor Kenichi Oshima, lecturer at the Faculty of Political Science at Ryukoku University.
Professor Kenichi told BBC that the main concern is that the increase in the number of nuclear power plants also increases the risk of potentially disastrous accidents.
He cited the New Year’s earthquake of 2024 in the Noto peninsula, where two decades ago, a plan to build a nuclear power plant was rebuilt because the inhabitants opposed it.
“If there had been a nuclear power plant there, it is clear that it would have caused a major accident,” he said.
Fukushima is looming
In Japan, any mention of nuclear energy inevitably brings back difficult memories of nuclear collapse to the Daiichi power plant.
“We all had such a terrible experience at the time of Fukushima earthquake,” said Yuko Maruyama, tokyo, to the BBC.
“How could I support it (the nuclear energy plan)? I want the government to make up on other energy sources,” she added.
“As a mother, I think of children, their safety. I can’t help but think about what would happen in the future.”
Fukushima’s collapse has been considered the worst in the world since that of Chernobyl in 1986.
This aroused new controversy in 2023, when Japan began to release treated water from the Fukushima factory site. This has attracted demonstrations by Japan neighbors, including China, for security problems.
The United Nations atomic energy regulator, IAEA said that wastewater was safe and would have a “negligible” impact on people and the environment.
In response to the new energy plan announced this week, Greenpeace said that the promotion of nuclear energy was “scandalous” when Fukushima’s benefits are still underway.
“There is no justification for continuing to rely on nuclear energy, which remains toxic for tens of thousands of years, produces radioactive waste that requires long -term management and has risks like tremors of land and terrorism, “said the group.
To achieve the government’s goal, experts say that 33 reactors must be put online, but the current rate of security checks as well as residents’ objections in certain regions will make this difficult.
Many of these nuclear power plants are old and will have to be refurbished with new technologies so that they operate safely.
“This most difficult problem is that each nuclear power plant is in a different place and will need its own security and infrastructure protocol,” said Yamagiwa.
“We must carefully check each of them. It still takes time.”
In recent months, regulators have given several former reactors the approval to continue working.
In October 2024, the oldest reactor in Japan, the Takahama nuclear power plant, was given to continue operations, making it the country’s first reactor to obtain the approval to operate beyond 50 years.
