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A panel of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Liberal
Democratic Party approved a proposal in a closed-door session on
Thursday that would boost stable "baseload" energy supplies -
nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and geothermal - to about 60
percent by 2030 from 40 percent now, according to reports in
several major media outlets.
This can only be achieved, the Asahi newspaper said, by getting
nuclear back up to 20 percent of the energy mix, given the
difficulty of burning more goal amid a global push to cut
greenhouse gases or wringing more hydro power out of Japan's
heavily dammed rivers.
The LDP will present the proposal as early as next week to Abe,
the Asahi said. Abe's government supports reviving nuclear
power, but must walk a delicate line as it deliberates the best
energy mix for the world's third-biggest economy.
Some members of a panel under the industry ministry floated a
ratio of 15 to 20 percent for nuclear power discussions that
began in January.
All of Japan's reactors are offline as utilities strive to meet
tougher standards imposed after the worst nuclear accident in a
quarter century.
Two nuclear plants have cleared the main safety hurdles for
restarts, but a wholesale return to nuclear reliance would run
into big political and operational difficulties.
Opinion polls regularly show most Japanese people want to phase
out nuclear power, which supplied about 29 percent of the
country's power before the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The issue is also politically divisive. Abe's coalition partner
Komeito wants atomic energy gradually phased out, and the Asahi
said some LDP members expressed opposition to the plan in
Thursday's meeting.
Logistically, too, reviving nuclear to 20 percent is
problematic. The Asahi said that it would require either
building more reactors or extending the working life of the
oldest reactors - something the new regulator has said would be
very difficult.
A Reuters analysis last year showed that 14 reactors will
probably restart at some point, 17 are uncertain and 17 will
probably never be switched back on, implying nuclear energy
would eventually make up less than 10 percent of Japan’s power
supply.
(Reporting by Aaron Sheldrick; Editing by William Mallard and Ed
Davies)
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