Japan Revives Nuclear Power
By The Editorial Board, Aug. 25, 2022, WSJ
Energy common sense is in short supply these days, so all the more reason to cheer Japan for rethinking its flight from nuclear power. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday unveiled plans to return nuclear energy to a central place in the country’s
electric grid.
Tokyo will aim to bring seven reactors back into service, for a total of 17, and will invest in developing and installing next-generation reactors. Nuclear plants generated about a third of the country’s electricity 20 years ago, according to the
International Atomic Energy Agency, but that has fallen to 7.2%. Most of the country’s 33 operational reactors have been offline for years undergoing safety checks.
Mr. Kishida is trying to reverse the political overreaction against nuclear power after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that triggered a disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant. That crisis exposed close ties among utilities, nuclear construction firms
and regulators—a ménage known as the “nuclear village”—that may have compromised safety.
This explains the current round of inspections, and the burden will be on Mr. Kishida to show voters the government has learned its regulatory lessons. Japanese might also want reassurance that this won’t become a subsidy bonanza as nuclear can
sometimes be.
As hard as the politics will be, however, Japan has little choice. Japan must import almost all of its coal, oil and natural gas, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has sent global prices skyrocketing while setting off competition for supply. Japan’s
electric grid has barely avoided blackouts this year. The economic costs of chronic energy shortages are starting to loom larger politically than the drawbacks of a nuclear restart.
Perhaps Japan’s decision will get through to Germany, which also started phasing out nuclear after Fukushima and is now mired in a debate about keeping its three remaining reactors online. This should be an easy call as natural gas shortages loom this
winter. Advanced economies need reliable base load power, and at least Tokyo understands this.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/japan-revives-nuclear-power-fumio-kishida-11661457726
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