information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
21 Février 2014
February 20, 2014
The Abe administration's long-awaited basic energy policy, set to be approved in March, means that Japan will continue to rely on nuclear power to generate electricity in spite of the disaster three years ago.
It will pave the way for the restart of idle nuclear reactors as early as this summer, when electricity demand is at its peak.
The basic energy plan, which will define the country’s mid- and long-term energy policy, will use slightly different wording from the draft plan revealed by the economy ministry last December.
The draft plan said that nuclear power generation is an “important base electricity source that serves as a basis” for society. The revised plan will say that nuclear power generation is an “important base load electricity source.”
The “base” in the draft plan and the “base load” in the revised plan both imply that nuclear power continues to generate a certain amount of electricity irrespective of seasons or hours.
However, base load is a more technical term that laypeople might easily construe as putting less importance on nuclear power generation--when nothing could be further from the truth.
The phrase “that serves as a basis” in the draft plan will be also deleted in the revised plan. The decision to delete it reflects concern in the ruling parties over such strong wording in the face of public opposition to nuclear power generation in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011.
Despite the changes to wording, the intent of the basic energy plan remains the same: to restart the nation's idle nuclear reactors as soon as possible.
“Even with the slight change in expressions, the direction in policy (toward the restart of idled nuclear reactors) is unchanged,” said a senior administration official.
By keeping the wording “nuclear power generation is an important electricity source,” the Abe administration seeks to proceed smoothly with the restarts of idle nuclear reactors.
The revised basic energy plan is set to be approved by the Cabinet in March. It must first be adopted in a meeting of ministers tasked with the issue, probably as early as Feb. 25.
Initially, the administration planned to approve the basic energy plan, based on the economy ministry’s draft plan, in mid-January. But those plans went awry after former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa decided to contest the Feb. 9 election for governor of Tokyo on a platform of creating a nuclear-free society.
Fearing that signing off on the basic energy plan would give momentum to Hosokawa or other anti-nuclear candidates, the Abe administration postponed taking the matter to Cabinet level.
In the event, Hosokawa and the other anti-nuclear candidates lost to Yoichi Masuzoe, who favors a gradual phase-out of nuclear power and was backed by the ruling party headed by Abe. Masuzoe's victory removed a key obstacle in the Abe administration's plans to move forward on the issue.
The government plans to approve the restart of idle nuclear reactors as early as this summer if the facilities pass new stringent safety screenings imposed by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
In a December meeting of the economy ministry’s panel that compiled the draft basic energy plan, Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa asked the government to clearly state its position on maintaining nuclear power to generate electricity.
By enunciating a strong pro-nuclear stance, the central government would find it easier to obtain consent for the restart of idle nuclear reactors from prefectures and municipalities that host nuclear power plants.
The basic energy plan also endorses the government's policy of promoting a nuclear fuel recycling program.
Studies at the prototype fast breeder reactor Monjuin Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, which is a key part of the program, will continue.
(Norihisa Hoshino, Tomoyoshi Otsu, Yuriko Suzuki and Mari Fujisaki contributed to this article.)
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