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Japan Draws Curtain on Nuclear Energy Following Germany
Japan plans to scrap atomic power by the end of the 2030s, bowing to public pressure after the Fukushima nuclear disaster caused mass evacuations and left areas north of Tokyo uninhabitable for decades.
The country’s first post-Fukushima energy policy approved today by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda means the country will join Germany in abandoning the power source that helped both countries build world-beating economies and models for development from the destruction of World War II.
While the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) reactors in 2011 led nations from China to France to review atomic policies, including the phase-out ordered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, countries including Britain affirmed plans to rely more on atomic power. Even Japan’s new policy will allow idled reactors to restart during the 27-year wind-down period.
“A whole generation of Japanese will grow up during this transition,” said Vicente López-Ibor, president of Estudio Juridico Internacional, an energy law firm in Madrid. “They will have to decide which renewable-energy technologies should be used, such as offshore wind farms, and consider shale gas too.”
Under the approved policy, the government estimates spending on solar, wind and other types of renewable energy over the next two decades will total 38 trillion yen ($487 billion), with another 84 trillion yen investment in energy-efficient technology, and 6 trillion yen on co-generation systems.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/japan-draws-curtain-on-nuclear-energy-following-germany.html
The country’s first post-Fukushima energy policy approved today by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda means the country will join Germany in abandoning the power source that helped both countries build world-beating economies and models for development from the destruction of World War II.
While the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) reactors in 2011 led nations from China to France to review atomic policies, including the phase-out ordered by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, countries including Britain affirmed plans to rely more on atomic power. Even Japan’s new policy will allow idled reactors to restart during the 27-year wind-down period.
“A whole generation of Japanese will grow up during this transition,” said Vicente López-Ibor, president of Estudio Juridico Internacional, an energy law firm in Madrid. “They will have to decide which renewable-energy technologies should be used, such as offshore wind farms, and consider shale gas too.”
Under the approved policy, the government estimates spending on solar, wind and other types of renewable energy over the next two decades will total 38 trillion yen ($487 billion), with another 84 trillion yen investment in energy-efficient technology, and 6 trillion yen on co-generation systems.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-09-14/japan-draws-curtain-on-nuclear-energy-following-germany.html
