Tokyo: Tsunami occurred in Japan in March 2011 following the earthquake. As a result, the Fukushima nuclear power plant was severely damaged. It was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
After this, power generation in many nuclear reactors was stopped due to safety concerns. There were 33 nuclear reactors in operation in the country, but now only 10 are operational. Thus the energy requirement is being met through imports.
In this situation, Russia has been attacking Ukraine for the past 6 months. Due to this, there has been a problem in the import of energy and its cost is increasing.
In this situation, a consultation meeting on energy policy was held in Tokyo, the capital of Japan yesterday. Bumio Kishida, the prime minister of the country affected by the corona virus, participated in the meeting and spoke through video:
Russia’s war on Ukraine has disrupted energy supplies to countries around the world, including Japan. This has increased the cost. Hence, there is a need to revive the nuclear power generation sector.
Accordingly, the government is considering re-commissioning the idled nuclear reactors and extending the life of the reactors if safety is guaranteed.
Apart from this, experts in the sector should take steps to install next generation nuclear reactors with new safety features. The views of the ruling and opposition parties on this matter should be taken into consideration. A decisive decision can be taken by the end of this year only if the related actions are expedited. Kishida said.
Before the Fukushima disaster, nuclear power plants accounted for 33 percent of Japan’s electricity generation. This has decreased to 5 percent in 2020.
Japan’s National Atomic Energy Agency has given permission to restart power generation at 7 more nuclear reactors. But it is noteworthy that the opposition parties are blocking this.