Japan
should embrace nuclear power, government panel says
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[December 13, 2013]
TOKYO (Reuters) — Japan should
embrace nuclear power as an "important and fundamental" energy source, a
government panel said on Friday, in advice that looks almost certain to
be accepted, despite widespread anti-nuclear feeling after the Fukushima
disaster.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is keen to restart Japan's idled nuclear
reactors to cut the cost of fossil fuel imports used by power
stations, which have swelled the trade deficit to a record and
driven up electricity prices.
The recommendation, if adopted, could put atomic power back into
Japan's energy mix after the previous government decided to abandon
it following triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant north
of Tokyo, the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in
1986.
"Nuclear energy is an important and fundamental base energy source
that will support the stability of energy demand and supply," the
panel wrote in its report, adding that securing safety was paramount
in utilizing atomic power.
There was no recommendation on the proportion of energy that should
come from nuclear power.
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The panel is headed by Akio Mimura, honorary chairman of Nippon
Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp, Japan's largest steel maker and one of
its heaviest electricity users.
The Fukushima disaster highlighted regulatory shortcomings and lack
of preparation in an industry long cosseted by Abe's Liberal
Democratic Party, which swept back to power a year ago. The crisis
led to the gradual shutdown of all Japan's nuclear reactors. They
remain idled, while a new, more independent regulator assesses their
ability to withstand natural disasters, such as the earthquake and
tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima nuclear plant.
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The panel also said Japan should publicize information on safety
measures taken after the disaster, its new regulatory standards and
the economics of nuclear power.
The previous Democratic Party of Japan government had accepted a
recommendation from a similar panel to abandon nuclear power
sometime in the 2030s.
Opposition to atomic energy remains high and all of Japan's
political parties, including the LDP's coalition partner, oppose
nuclear power, which provided about 30 percent of electricity before
the Fukushima disaster in 2011.
Prior to the disaster the government had envisaged increasing the
contribution of nuclear energy to 50 percent.
(Reporting by Mari Saito; writing by Aaron Sheldrick;
editing by
Clarence Fernandez)
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