However, with cost estimates rising, the government has proposed to have Tepco bear roughly 70 percent of the cost, with other electricity companies contributing about 20 percent and the government – that is, taxpayers – paying about 10 percent. ![]() Under a special financing scheme enacted after the Fukushima disaster, Tepco, the utility responsible for the accident, is expected to pay cleanup costs, aided by favorable government-backed financing. International Atomic Energy Agency experts review plans for decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, April 17, 2013. Compensation expenses account for another 40 percent, and the remainder will pay for decontaminating affected areas for residents. About 40 percent of this sum will cover decommissioning the crippled nuclear reactors. METI’s 22 trillion yen estimate for total damages from the Fukushima meltdowns is equivalent to about one-fifth of Japan’s annual general accounting budget. Fifty-seven percent of the public opposed restarting existing nuclear power plants even if they satisfied new regulatory standards, and 73 percent supported a phaseout of nuclear power, with 14 percent advocating an immediate shutdown of all nuclear plants. Only 10.1 percent said that the use of nuclear energy should be maintained, and a mere 1.7 percent said that it should be increased.Īnother survey by the newspaper Asahi Shimbun in 2016 was even more negative. In a 2015 poll by the pro-nuclear Japan Atomic Energy Relations Organization, 47.9 percent of respondents said that nuclear energy should be abolished gradually and 14.8 percent said that it should be abolished immediately. The most serious challenge that policymakers and the nuclear industry face in Japan is a loss of public trust, which remains low six years after the meltdowns. Japan’s Basic Energy Law requires the government to release a strategic energy plan every three years, so debate over the new plan is expected to start sometime this year. In 2012 then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government announced that it would try to phase out all nuclear power by 2040, after existing plants reached the end of their 40-year licensed operating lives. After the meltdowns at Fukushima, Japanese utilities shut down their 50 intact reactors one by one. When the earthquake and tsunami struck in 2011, Japan had 54 operating nuclear reactors which produced about one-third of its electricity supply. To move forward, Japan needs to find a new way of making decisions about its energy future. However, Japan’s current energy policy assumes nuclear power will play a role. The Japanese public has lost faith in nuclear safety regulation, and a majority favors phasing out nuclear power. The government is developing a plan under which consumers and citizens will bear some of those costs through higher electric rates, taxes or both. In late 2016 the government estimated total costs from the nuclear accident at about 22 trillion yen, or about US$188 billion – approximately twice as high as its previous estimate. ![]() More than 100,000 people were evacuated but only about 13 percent have returned home, although the government has announced that it is safe to return to some evacuation zones. Decommissioning the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant poses unprecedented technical challenges. Must Learn From Japan Nuclear Crisis”Ģ011 May: “Nuclear Energy, What Everyone Needs to Know” (Oxford University Press)Ģ011 April 15: Guatemala Times, “Pools of Danger”Ģ011 March 23: Nature, “Do Not Phase Out Nuclear Power Yet”Ģ011 March 16: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The Need For a Resilient Energy Policy in JapanĢ011 March 15: Kyodo News, OPINION: Future of Nuclear Power in Japan – Advice from American FriendĢ011 March 11: Foreign Policy, A Radioactive Situation, Japan’s earthquake could shake public trust in the safety of nuclear power.Six years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011, but Japan is still dealing with its impacts. There are still many questions after the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the northeast coast of Japan and devastated Northern Honshu. One crucial question to Japan’s long-term economic growth is what to do about nuclear power?Ģ013 August 23: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, “Thinking Outside Fukushima”Ģ013 May 13: FAS Issue Brief, “Regulating Japanese Nuclear Power In The Wake Of The Fukushima Daiichi Accident”Ģ012 February 29: Nieman Watchdog, “So Many Questions About Nuclear Power”Ģ012 February 8: “The Future of Nuclear Power in the United States”Ģ011 November: Foreign Policy, “Think Again: Nuclear Power”Ģ011 July 1: U.S. On March 11, 2011, Japan experienced its worst earthquake in the 140 years of recorded history of earthquake measurements and is experiencing its worst-to date-nuclear incident. The worst-case accident involved a reactor meltdown and substantial release of radioactive materials to the environment.
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