Japan prepares for nuclear U-turn

[FBaggins]

Japan’s plan for a nuclear-free society, which gathered momentum after the nuclear meltdown in Fukushima nearly two years ago, looks set to be shortlived.

Since its electoral landslide in December, the Liberal Democratic party has wasted no time in setting the stage for a return to Japan’s former policy of promoting nuclear power as a major source of energy generation.

Shinzo Abe, who took over as prime minister last month, has given a clear indication that the government is looking to build new nuclear power plants, despite widespread public reservations in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century.

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d85d6624-5588-11e2-bbd1-00144feab49a.html#axzz2GwjUJnBF

[samsingh]

1. kick

[immoderate]

2. Corporate greed.

Nuclear is not cost effective. But it is capital intensive.

--imm

[FBaggins]

3. Sorry... that doesn't make any sense.

Their reactors are already built. There's little capital savings involved in idling sunk costs.

As for new construction... much of that is already paid for as well. Any additional new construction would still have to be compared to alternatives (which, in Japan, are limited and expensive).

[PamW]

4. My prediction..

My prediction was that when the Japanese realized that their country could be either:

a) An agrarian society powered by the limited power that renewables can offer.

b) A highly industrial society that requires the massive amounts of power that their
nuclear-powered electrical infrastructure was designed to deliver; in other words,
what they were before the earthquake / tsunami.

the Japanese would choose the latter.

In the final analysis, the Japanese want to be the economic powerhouse that they once were, which requires an energy intensive infrastructure powered by nuclear power.

I didn't think they would opt for "just getting by" with the limited amount of energy that is available from renewables.

PamW