Osamu Tsukimori and Aaron Sheldrick report that the pace of approvals for nuclear reactor restarts in Japan, where most plants remain shut following the Fukushima disaster, is unlikely to pick up in the coming years (Bias alert here! No foundation for claim and an exaggeration of what Chairman Kuketa indicated), the new head of Japan's nuclear regulator said in an interview on Tuesday. The comments from Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) Chairman Toyoshi Fuketa suggest Japan may not make headway in meeting its electricity generation targets. By 2030, the country was expecting nuclear to power about one-fifth of its generation. However, utilities are having difficulty grappling with tougher rules on protecting reactors from natural disasters in the earthquake-prone country.
Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 (Bias alert here! Not a disaster: no one died), the world's worst since Chernobyl in 1986 (also Bias alert: implying people died), the NRA was set up in 2012 to draft new safety standards that have been described as among the world's toughest (also Bias alert: described by whom?). Since then, 12 reactors at six nuclear plants have passed the safety requirements needed to restart, but only four reactors are currently operating. One more reactor that resumed operations after meeting the requirements has been shut down for scheduled maintenance.
A majority of Japanese oppose nuclear power after Fukushima and restarts are a delicate political issue rather than just a matter of meeting technical safety requirements.
When asked if he could place a number of how many reactors may be approved for a resumption of operations in the next five years, Fuketa said: "I honestly do not know." About a dozen other reactors are going through safety checks as part of a re-licensing process under the new rules.
Fuketa is known for taking tough positions during safety reviews of reactors and has been instrumental in directing the clean-up of the wrecked Fukushima plant.
Japan's government set an energy mix plan in 2015 that forecasts relying on nuclear power to generate between 20 to 22 percent of the country's electricity in 2030. That requires having about 30 reactors operating by then.
Read the rest of article... the cost of electricity has begun to skyrocket in Japan and the people will judge costs re risk in order to re-engage with full nuclear support in 2018.
Original working URL: https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2017-11-07/japan-nuclear-regulator-says-restart-approval-pace-unlikely-to-speed-up
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