Dec. 28 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s government plans to
establish a variety of sources for electricity generation within
ten years, including a review of the plan to exit nuclear power
set by the previous administration, Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said.
“We will make our decisions based on technological
findings and not with prejudgment,” Motegi said today at a news
conference in Tokyo. “We can’t say for sure that Japan will be
free of nuclear power by the 2030s.”
The comments from Motegi, who oversees the energy industry
as head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, signals
a shift in nuclear policy since the Liberal Democratic Party
returned to power and a new Cabinet was introduced Dec. 26. The
previous administration planned to phase out nuclear power by
the end of the 2030s in line with public demands.
All but two of Japan’s 50 nuclear reactors remain offline
for safety checks following last year’s Fukushima nuclear
disaster. In August, a series of town hall forums showed a
majority of the public wanted nuclear power phased out and tens
of thousands of people came onto Tokyo streets demanding the
plants stay shut. The country began an incentive program on July
1 to encourage investments in renewable energy.
The new government will also review the previous
administration’s goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions 25
percent from 1990 levels by 2020, Motegi said.
Clean Energy
“We will introduce clean energy and promote energy saving
as much as possible, but it is inevitable to rely on thermal
power for the time being,” he said. Thermal power plants burn
coal, oil and natural gas that produce carbon emissions cited as
a cause of climate change.
The government will await new safety standards governing
nuclear plants before deciding whether to restart idled
reactors, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s new prime minister, said Dec. 26.
Japan’s new nuclear regulator has said it will announce the
rules in July and Abe indicated some reactors may restart during
the next three years if they meet the tougher safety standards.
“The Nuclear Regulation Authority will set strict rules
for nuclear power,” Abe said in his first press conference.
“We will start deciding whether or not to restart reactors
during the three-year period.”
Abe’s plan has already ran afoul of Shunichi Tanaka, the
NRA chairman. The Asahi newspaper reported today that Tanaka
said it was impossible to assess all reactors within 3 years
because of the time needed in the screening process, citing an
interview with the NRA head.
Nuclear Buddhists?
On the day before he was elected prime minister, Abe’s
Liberal Democratic Party signed an agreement with coalition
partner the Buddhist-backed New Komeito Party on key policy
issues.
“We will reduce our dependence on nuclear as much as
possible by accelerating the use of energy saving and renewable
energy and promoting highly efficient thermal plants and other
measures,” the parties said in a statement at the time.
That marked a shift in Komeito’s earlier position that it
had mapped out in campaign pledges.
“We aim for zero nuclear as soon as possible,” the party
said in the pledge, adding that Japan should not build any more
nuclear reactors.
At his first news conference, Abe hinted nuclear reactors
may need to resume operations to ensure a stable power supply to
ensure businesses don’t move offshore.
“An immediate issue to consider is how to respond to power
demand,” he said. “We need to think about the economic
competitiveness of our country because there is danger of
hollowing out in manufacturing.”
To contact the reporters on this story:
Chisaki Watanabe in Tokyo at
cwatanabe5@bloomberg.net;
Yuji Okada in Tokyo at
yokada6@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Reed Landberg at
landberg@bloomberg.net
