Survey says 80% of Japanese don’t want nuclear plants anymore

[bananas]

Source: Japan Daily Press

Just a day before the 3rd anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident, national broadcaster NHK released the results of a survey about nuclear power in Japan. The results show that 80% of the respondents are in favor of scrapping some or all of the existing nuclear reactors in the country.

The survey, which was conducted from November to December of 2013, also asked respondents if they were concerned that another accident like Fukushima will happen and 37% said they are very concerned, 50% are slightly concerned while only 14% said they are not. When asked if the nuclear reactors, all 50 of which are currently offline, should be restarted, 44% said they should remain that way, while 11% believe they should go online soon. But 44% of those who responded were still undecided as to what fate should befall the idle atomic plants. The poll also asked what should be done with the existing reactors, 30% said all of them should be decommissioned while 46% believe they should just be reduced. 22% think the number should just be maintained while only 1% said that the government and utilities should add more plants.

An overwhelming 95% of respondents believe that the current situation at Fukushima, with its slow decontamination process and almost regular irradiated water leaks, is worrisome, while just 5% said they are not that concerned. NHK researchers think that the ongoing problems at Fukushima may have influenced their opinion about nuclear power.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a visit to some towns in the Fukushima Prefecture on Saturday to check on the living conditions of residents, most of whom are still displaced. By April 1, residents of Miyakoji District will be able to return home, as the evacuation order is expected to be lifted, the first since the nuclear accident. Abe said to reporters afterwards that he thinks the Fukushima rehabilitation is underway but also vowed to do his best to rebuild the prefecture as soon as possible. He said that until Fukushima is restored, there will be no economic revival for the country.

Read more: http://japandailypress.com/survey-says-80-of-japanese-dont-want-nuclear-plants-anymore-1045537/

[geek tragedy]

1. obvious question is what would they do for electricity then?

in theory, getting rid of coal plants and nuclear reactors are both awesome ideas. but very few countries get all of their electricity from hydro, wind, and solar.

[bananas]

2. They only got about a quarter of their electricity from nuclear before Fukushima

They've gone three years with their reactors shut down,
and they want to keep them shut down.

IIRC, electricity was only about half their total energy use,
so nuclear was only about 1/8 of their total energy consumption.

They have sufficient wind and solar resources for all their energy needs, they should use them.

[Art_from_Ark]

3. As a resident of Japan,

I don't think that this country has sufficient wind and solar resources to power the entire country. However, solar power can certainly make a dent in electrical generation, if the price comes down. For example, it is still too cost-ineffective to equip my house with solar panels, which would cost the equivalent of $10,000 or more to be of any practical use. There is a local factory that uses a nearby solar farm for electrical power, but the farm covers nearly as much land as the actual factory.

[bananas]

6. Japan's offshore wind resources: more than five times the current output of Japan’s power companies

http://japandailypress.com/japan-wind-power-has-capacity-to-replace-nuclear-floating-turbines-tested-near-fukushima-0939244/

Japan wind power has capacity to replace nuclear, floating turbines tested near Fukushima

Nov 09, 2013 John Hofilena Tech & Science

<snip>

Japan’s offshore winds reportedly have the potential to produce 1,570 gigawatts of power – more than five times the current output of Japan’s power companies.

<snip>

[Art_from_Ark]

8. Of course, what is *potential* and what is *practical*

are two different things. Putting sufficient infrastructure in place to generate electricity from offshore winds and transmit it to the power grid on the mainland would be a herculean task. And what sort of environmental damage would be wrought by building all this marine-based infrastructure? Japan has 127 million people, plus millions of businesses, not to mention public infrastructure like street lighting and traffic signals, that all require a steady flow of electricity. I really don't think that relying on wind and solar power is a practical solution, certainly not in the near future.

[valerief]

10. Environmental damage! Bwahahahaha! I guess nuclear meltdowns don't do that.

As for herculean effort for alternative energy sources? Where there's political will, anything can be done. Without it, well, I guess you're voting to glow.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Building massive offshore electric generators

isn't going to do a damn thing to clean up the radiation that is already leaking from Fukushima Dai-ichi. And do you actually believe that building massive power generating facilities in marine environments won't do serious damage to those environments? Is one type of environmental destruction counteracted by causing another type of environmental destruction?

[djean111]

4. "the nuclear reactors, all 50 of which are currently offline"

sort of goes beyond theory, I think. For Japan.

[geek tragedy]

5. wow, major derpitude on my part, ouch nt

[FBaggins]

7. The article belies the title.

It's actually only 30% that "don't want nuclear plants anymore" (i.e., the people that want the existing plants to be decommissioned).

[Art_from_Ark]

9. It's actually 69% who don't want nuclear plants anymore

According to a poll conducted by the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper, 69% of respondents wanted either an immediate halt to nuclear power generation, or a gradual phase-out of nuclear power to zero in the future. 29% wanted either a gradual decline to a certain level, or maintain nuclear power generation at the pre-disaster level.

原発の今後に関しては「即時ゼロ」「段階的に減らし、将来はゼロ」を合わせた脱原発派が６９％を占めた。「段階的に減らすが、一定の比率は維持」「震災前の比率にする」などの容認・推進派は２９％だった。

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/politics/news/CK2014030902000128.html

[FBaggins]

12. Not really the same thing

A "gradual phaseout" necessarily involves turning many of the reactors back on... and in most countries has resulted in plans to no longer build new reactors.

"Don't want them anymore" equates to "don't turn any of them back on"

[Art_from_Ark]

16. The "gradual phase-out" means ultimately zero nuclear power generation

In other words, the vast majority of Japanese want to get completely away from nuclear power-- if not immediately, then certainly in the foreseeable future.

[Yo_Mama]

11. Can one blame them?

Does anyone know if there has been a US survey on this issue recently?

[FBaggins]

13. Gallup should report in about a month

They've been running the question in March recently.

Last year, it was slightly less than 1/3rd that wanted less emphasis on nuclear power and sligtly less than wanted more emphasis or an unchanged emphasis.

[Yo_Mama]

14. Thanks very much

I know the only reason the Japanese don't deep-six all their plants is because of the trade imbalance, and that's a real problem.

The US has more options, really.

[FBaggins]

15. That's pretty close

It isn't just the trade imbalance... it's also the cost and the fact that they have little margin for emergencies or maintenance.

The US has more options, really.

We do... but there's no reason to use them. If we could do without those scores of gigawatts, then we would be much better off shutting down an equivelent amount of coal generation.

[RobertEarl]

18. Bahh, what do they know?

Are they like the experts on nuke power problems?