Nuclear power in Japan

The Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant, a 3-unit BWR site typical of Japan's nuclear plants.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, a nuclear plant with seven units, the largest single nuclear power station in the world, was completely shut down for 21 months following an earthquake in 2007.[1]
The 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, displaced 50,000 households after radioactivity leaked into the air, soil, and sea.[2] Radiation checks led to bans on some shipments of vegetables and fish.[3]

Japan has generated up to 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors and planned to increase that share to 40% up until 2011.[4] Nuclear power energy was a national strategic priority in Japan. After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, all reactors had been shut down temporarily. As of November 2024, of the 54 nuclear reactors in Japan, there were 33 operable reactors but only 13 reactors in 6 power plants were actually operating.[4] A total of 24 reactors are scheduled for decommissioning or are in the process of being decommissioned.[5] Others are in the process of being reactivated, or are undergoing modifications aimed to improve resiliency against natural disasters; Japan's 2030 energy goals posit that at least 33 will be reactivated by a later date.[6]

Though all of Japan's nuclear reactors successfully withstood shaking from the Tohoku earthquake, flooding from the ensuing tsunami caused the failure of cooling systems at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on 11 March 2011. Japan's first-ever nuclear emergency was declared, and 140,000 residents within 20 km (12 mi) of the plant were evacuated.

All of Japan's nuclear plants were closed, or their operations were suspended for safety inspections. The last of Japan's fifty-four reactors (Tomari-3) went offline for maintenance on 5 May 2012,[7] leaving Japan completely without nuclear-produced electrical power for the first time since 1970.

Problems in stabilizing the triple reactor meltdowns at Fukushima I nuclear plant hardened attitudes toward nuclear power. In June 2011, immediately after the Fukushima disaster, more than 80 percent of Japanese said they were anti-nuclear and distrusted government information on radiation,[8][9][10] but ten years later, in March 2021, only 11 percent of Japanese said they wanted that nuclear energy generation to be discontinued immediately. Another 49 percent were asking for a gradual exit from nuclear energy.[11] By October 2011, while there had been electricity shortages, Japan survived the summer of 2011 without the extensive blackouts that some had predicted,[12][13][14] but at the price of casting doubts on Japan ambitious carbon emissions cuts.[15] An energy white paper, approved by the Japanese Cabinet in October 2011, stated that "Public confidence in the safety of nuclear power was greatly damaged" by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and called for a reduction in the nation's reliance on nuclear power.[16]

Despite protests, on 1 July 2012 unit 3 of the Ōi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted.[17]

A comprehensive assessment by international experts on the health risks associated with the Fukushima I nuclear power plant disaster concluded in 2013 that, for the general population inside and outside Japan, the predicted risks were low and no observable increases in cancer rates above baseline rates were anticipated.[18]

In September 2013, Ōi units 3 and 4 went offline, making Japan again completely without nuclear-produced electrical power.[19] On 11 August 2015, the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant was brought back online, followed by two units (3 and 4) of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant on 29 January 2016.[20][21] However, Unit 4 was shut down three days after restart due to an internal failure, and Unit 3 in March 2016 after the district court in Shiga prefecture issued an injunction to halt the operation of the Takahama Nuclear Power Plant.[22][23] Of all the 54 nuclear reactors built prior to the Fukushima nuclear disaster, 43 of them remain operable but only a mere 9 reactors are currently in use. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in 2017 that if the country is to meet its obligations under the Paris climate accord, then nuclear energy needs to make up between 20 and 22% of the nation's portfolio mix. 26 restart applications are now pending with an estimated 12 units to come back in service by 2025 and 18 by 2030.[24][25]

The total cost of implementing safety measures, maintaining facilities, and decommissioning of commercially operated nuclear power plants in Japan is estimated at ¥13.46 trillion ($123 billion).[26]

In February 2023, a survey by Asahi Shimbun showed that 51% of participants in Japan favored the restart of nuclear plant operations, with 42% opposed.[27]

  1. ^ The European Parliament's Greens-EFA Group – The World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2007 Archived 25 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine p. 23.
  2. ^ Tomoko Yamazaki & Shunichi Ozasa (27 June 2011). "Fukushima Retiree Leads Anti-Nuclear Shareholders at Tepco Annual Meeting". Bloomberg.
  3. ^ Mari Saito (7 May 2011). "Japan anti-nuclear protesters rally after PM call to close plant". Reuters.
  4. ^ a b "Nuclear Power in Japan". World Nuclear Association. Retrieved 30 October 2024.
  5. ^ "Japan's Nuclear Power Plants". nippon.com. 10 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Most Japanese Back Nuclear for First Time Since Fukushima". Bloomberg.com. 28 March 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  7. ^ David Batty (5 May 2012). "Japan shuts down last working nuclear reactor". The Guardian.
  8. ^ Gavin Blair (20 June 2011). "Beginning of the end for nuclear power in Japan?". CSMonitor.
  9. ^ M. V. Ramana (July 2011). "Nuclear power and the public". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 67 (4): 43. Bibcode:2011BuAtS..67d..43R. doi:10.1177/0096340211413358. S2CID 144321178. Archived from the original on 1 February 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Thousands march against nuclear power in Tokyo". USA Today. September 2011.
  11. ^ "Japanese Opinion Poll Finds That Views on Nuclear Power Turn Slightly Positive". www.jaif.or.jp. 25 March 2020. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  12. ^ Stephanie Cooke (10 October 2011). "After Fukushima, Does Nuclear Power Have a Future?". New York Times.
  13. ^ Antoni Slodkowski (15 June 2011). "Japan anti-nuclear protesters rally after quake". Reuters.
  14. ^ Hiroko Tabuchi (13 July 2011). "Japan Premier Wants Shift Away From Nuclear Power". New York Times.
  15. ^ "Japan's nuclear crisis casts doubt over carbon goals". www.reuters.com. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  16. ^ Tsuyoshi Inajima & Yuji Okada (28 October 2011). "Nuclear Promotion Dropped in Japan Energy Policy After Fukushima". Bloomberg.
  17. ^ Gerhardt, Tina (22 July 2012). "After Fukushima, Nuclear Power on Collision Course with Japanese Public". Alternet.
  18. ^ Global report on Fukushima nuclear accident details health risks World Health Organization, news release 2013-02-28, accessed 4 July 2013
  19. ^ "Anti-nuke protesters call for end to nuclear energy use". The Asahi Shimbun. 13 September 2013. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  20. ^ "Four Years After Fukushima, Japan Makes a Return to Nuclear Power". PBS.
  21. ^ "Japan restarts Takahama nuclear reactor ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion". www.japantoday.com. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  22. ^ "Japan court issues injunction to halt Takahama nuclear reactors". Reuters. Archived from the original on 16 April 2023.
  23. ^ Kensai Electric Power To Take Takahama Unit 3 Offline
  24. ^ "Japan – is there a future in nuclear?". Nuclear Engineering International. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  25. ^ Silverstein, Ken. "Japan Circling Back To Nuclear Power After Fukushima Disaster". forbes.com. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  26. ^ "Costs for managing Japan's nuclear plants to total 13 trillion yen". Kyodo News+. 15 January 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).