Japan’s nuclear industry pledges to refire reactors

Japan’s nuclear industry pledges to refire reactors

FPJ BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 02:35 AM IST
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Tokyo : Japan’s pro-nuclear lobby pledged on Monday that 2015 would be the year reactors are restarted, despite public wariness that has lingered since the Fukushima disaster.

Industry officials and supporters said the country desperately needs atomic power to play its part in cutting greenhouse gas emissions and ensure a stable electricity supply.

“This year marks the exit from zero nuclear power,” Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, told an audience of around 900 people, including industry officials and global policymakers.

“It is self-evident that nuclear power plants that have passed safety tests should be restarted as soon as possible,” he said, citing the need for a stable power supply.

The push from the nuclear industry comes as the public remains deeply concerned about safety, more than four years after a tsunami sparked meltdowns at Fukushima, spreading radiation over a large area and forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

It also comes as Japan prepares to decide its new energy policy — how much electricity will come from renewables, nuclear and fossil fuels — and readies to make a new international pledge on cutting greenhouse gas emissions before a global summit on climate change this year.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the atom could not be forsaken. “Despite the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident, nuclear power has continued to play an important part in the global energy mix,” he said.

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