Not a "basic plan" really

February 27, 2014

EDITORIAL: New energy plan falls short on ways to reduce nuclear power

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201402270034

The Abe administration recently decided on the draft of a new basic energy plan, but the proposal still contains no specific measures to deliver on the government’s promise to reduce the nation’s reliance on nuclear energy.

This is not something that can qualify as a “basic plan.”

The administration says it cannot offer figures for the estimated share of nuclear power in the nation’s overall energy supply because of uncertainty concerning safety assessments of reactors by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

Asahi Shimbun editorials have argued that Japan should move toward a future without nuclear power.

But the energy policy of the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe calls for the continued production of electricity with atomic energy. Since the administration has promised to reduce nuclear power generation, it should, at the very least, make it clear how it will achieve that goal even if it cannot provide specific figures.

But all the government’s draft says with regard to this issue is that it will seek to restart idle reactors while respecting the NRA’s safety assessments.

The catastrophic accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has resulted in tighter nuclear safety regulations.

That means fewer reactors can be brought back online compared with before the nuclear disaster.

If the government chooses to do nothing more to reduce the number of active reactors, it will only be preserving the status quo.

The draft also says the government will continue pursuing the controversial program to establish a system for reprocessing all spent nuclear fuel from reactors. The Abe administration is failing to confront the reality of the program, which has come to a standstill.

There are other important questions that remain unanswered.

For instance, what will the government do to ensure that aging nuclear plants are smoothly closed? How will the emergency response plans of local governments close to a nuclear power plant be used in deciding on whether to approve a plant restart? Municipalities located within a 30-kilometer radius of a nuclear plant are required to work out such plans.

Should the government order the shutdown of a nuclear plant if there is no prospect for finding a site for storing spent nuclear fuel rods from the plant?

The government’s nuclear power policy also has great implications for its efforts to revitalize the power market.

Electric utilities are unwilling to upgrade their aging thermal power plants with poor energy efficiency because they are expecting many offline reactors to be reactivated.

Unless the government announces plausible plans to promote a shift away from nuclear energy toward other energy sources, there can be no significant progress in the development of alternative power sources. Nor will there be any significant cut in the costs of purchasing fossil fuels from other countries.

A return to nuclear power will discourage new power suppliers, like companies selling electricity produced with renewable energy sources, from making new investments. That’s because existing nuclear power plants are at an advantage over such new players in terms of short-term cost competitiveness.

If the government shows no strong commitment to reducing nuclear power generation, there will be few businesses willing to take risks to enter the power market or spend money to develop new technologies.

Nuclear power generation cannot be economically viable without government subsidies.

Since its new energy supply plan should reflect the lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the government should first take steps to reform its traditional energy policy, which has been heavily dependent on nuclear energy.

Unless the government embarks on an overhaul of its energy policy, the power market reform it is trying to promote is likely to fall through.

The government says its draft of the new energy plan will be discussed by working teams of both the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner New Komeito.

Policymakers in the ruling camp should not forget that their discussions on the plan will be closely monitored by the public.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 27