President of Tokyo Electric Urges Nuclear Future

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Public jitters over nuclear safety, meanwhile, have helped keep all but 2 of Japan’s 50 remaining reactors offline, and the country’s nascent anti-nuclear movement has demanded an even more immediate shutdown.

But Japan would be punished with sky-high energy prices, would become dangerously dependent on Middle Eastern oil and would see its greenhouse gas emissions surge if it went nuclear-free — especially if it did so immediately, said Naomi Hirose, president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. And without a swift restart of the remaining reactors, the company’s finances, already crippled by compensation claims after the Fukushima disaster, would worsen further, he warned.

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Mr. Hirose is part of a chorus of voices urging Japan not to turn away from nuclear power. Japan’s largest and most influential business lobby, the Nippon Keidanren, has also warned that a nuclear shutdown would create an energy shortage that would cripple economic growth. Japan once relied on nuclear power for about 30 percent of its electricity needs.

Anti-nuclear proponents have argued that Japan can make up for lost capacity by temporarily shifting to fossil fuels while the country races to expand alternative sources of energy, like solar, wind and geothermal power. Japan made it through a sweltering summer with just two reactors running, they say — proof that the nation could do away with reactors altogether.

But Mr. Hirose said power companies had averted blackouts this summer only by firing up old oil and natural gas stations and by importing fuel and generators at great cost. He said energy sources like solar and wind were still unreliable and would be feasible only with backup energy from conventional power stations like those Tokyo Electric operates.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/06/business/global/president-of-tokyo-electric-urges-nuclear-future.html

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