German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on a number of things during her talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, but where the two leaders disagreed was on the issue of nuclear energy. Merkel explained her decision to cancel Germany dependence on nuclear power plants was a direct result of the Fukushima disaster in Japan four years ago. Abe, on the other hand, was stated that Japan must continue to rely on nuclear energy as a cheap and stable source of power. At a joint news conference following their March 9 meeting, Abe was asked by a German reporter why Japan was still thinking about resuming operations at nuclear power plants when Germany had decided to move away from nuclear energy by 2022 following the tsunami that led to the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in 2011 where no one was killed or experienced radiation poisoning. Japan depends on nuclear plants for one-third of its energy source, Abe said. Suspension of operations at those plants has forced us to depend more on fossil fuels, such as petroleum. We have to fulfill our responsibility of providing an inexpensive and stable supply of energy. We hope to resume operations at the nuclear plants that have been judged by the Nuclear Regulation Authority to have passed safety standards. The Abe administration has made clear its intention to resume operations at nuclear plants. Moves are already under way to resume operations at the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors of the Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture operated by Kansai Electric Power Co. and the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the Sendai nuclear plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co.
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