Reconstruction of nuclear complex intolerable

 December 25, 2014

Editorial: Moves to reconstruct nuclear power plants unacceptable

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20141222p2a00m0na013000c.html

An expert panel to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is poised to include the approval of rebuilding nuclear power plants in an interim file to be compiled later this year as one of the subjects to be considered. The move appears to signify the government's clear declaration that it is not pursuing a zero nuclear power policy.

After the Dec. 14 House of Representatives election, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) gave a de-facto stamp of approval to reactivation of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant's No. 3 and No. 4 reactors in a safety screening. This is one of a series of moves leading to dependence on nuclear power. We cannot tolerate any moves that would promote a U-turn to nuclear power without any debate or seeking of public opinion.

The expert panel -- the Nuclear Energy Subcommittee under the ministry's Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy -- is planning to include acceptance of nuclear plant reconstruction in its interim file by underscoring the need to ensure "the supply capacity to make up for the decommissioning of reactors."

It will be the first time for the government to spell out the need to rebuild nuclear plants since the outbreak of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Reconstruction of a nuclear power complex -- in which a new plant will be built while dilapidated reactors are decommissioned -- is essentially the same as building a new nuclear plant.

Legal revisions that came into effect after the Fukushima disaster have put a 40-year cap on the operational life of nuclear reactors. If no extension was allowed, the power generation capacity at nuclear plants across the country will be halved in 2030 before being reduced to zero in 2049. If rebuilding of nuclear plants is given approval, however, they will manage to persist well into the future.

In the basic energy plan approved by the Cabinet in April, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration pledged to "lower the dependence on nuclear power as much as possible," while calling nuclear energy an "important base load power source." The possible move to approve nuclear plant reconstruction indicates that the administration's real intentions lie in a "U-turn to nuclear power dependence."

The existing nuclear plants boast a number of merits including cheaper fuel costs compared to thermal power plants, lower carbon dioxide emissions and stable energy security compared to oil and natural gas, the supply of which relies upon the politically unstable Middle East region. Realistically, it would be difficult to abolish all nuclear reactors immediately.

However, the "safety myth" that surrounded nuclear power before the Fukushima crisis has fallen apart and the danger posed by nuclear energy to people's lives remain. We have yet to find a place to dispose of spent nuclear fuel. The government should seek to abolish nuclear plants saddled with insurmountable problems at the earliest date possible. Approval of nuclear plant reconstruction, which runs counter to that ideal, should never be tolerated.

If nuclear plants are to be allowed to continue existing in the future, the country's efforts heretofore toward a breakaway from nuclear power reliance would be spoiled.

Major utilities including Kyushu Electric Power Co. and Hokkaido Electric Power Co. estimate that production of government-authorized renewable energy will go beyond their acceptance capacity. In order to expand that capacity, it is necessary to increase storage batteries and power transmission networks, but utilities would lose their motivation for taking such measures if reconstruction of nuclear plants is recognized.

After the Dec. 14 general election, Electric Power Development Co. (J-Power) applied for safety screenings at its Oma nuclear power plant, while the NRA approved the safety of the Takahama nuclear plant for its possible reactivation. Then comes the move to accept reconstruction of nuclear plants. This is not fair considering the fact that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party talked little about nuclear power in its campaigns leading up to the Dec. 14 election.