![]() High temperatures, storms and flood debris can force them to shut down unexpectedly for long periods of time, as is currently happening in France. And even if new nuclear power plants are to be built (as is apparent from the situation on the ground in Europe and the United States) the high costs and construction delays will make it almost impossible to rely on them for providing us with energy.įurthermore, nuclear power plants are themselves vulnerable to climate change. Japan’s nuclear power plants are already quite old and will face mass decommissioning in the near future. The government should expedite the expansion of demand-side response systems and demand-side storage batteries.Ĭlimate change countermeasures must be mid- to long-term or permanent, then the proper course of action is to switch to energy conservation and renewable energy. The most effective way to achieve this is through energy-saving measures and the usage of storage batteries. By simply lowering or shifting peak demand by 0.5 per cent in a year, maximum demand could drop by about 10 per cent (5 million kW in the service area of Tokyo Power Electric Company, TEPCO). Power shortages are problems related to excess or shortage of supply and demand during peak times of maximum demand - so restarting baseload nuclear power plants will not help. More importantly, nuclear power plants do not help with the often-cited power shortages. Nuclear power plants are not safe from earthquakes and tsunamis they are endangering residents and there is currently no plan to safely store existing nuclear waste - not to mention the waste that will be produced if reactors are not promptly decommissioned but rather restarted. There is no rational reason for supporting nuclear power. Investing in batteries instead of powerplants The country has been steadily proceeding with the deactivation of said plants and is leading the world in a major shift towards renewable energy. While Germany, on the other hand, has decided, based on an ethical assessment, to abolish nuclear power plants in view of past accidents. Japan, which has experienced one of the worst nuclear accidents in world history, is now seemingly returning to a pro-nuclear stance and without remorse. Lemke emphasised that ‘it is irresponsible to treat high-risk nuclear power plants like coffee makers that you refill with water, replace with new coffee beans and filters, and turn on again’, warning those who are wavering in the face of the energy crisis of the consequences of returning to nuclear power. First, their use is risky and Chernobyl, Fukushima and other disasters have demonstrated the dangers involved second, nuclear power plants are expensive and produce highly toxic legacies for future generations to deal with and third, they can become war targets, as Russia has proven in Ukraine. Germany’s Environment Minister Steffi Lemke held a speech on 22 September in the German parliament where she outlined three reasons why Germany will not halt the phase-out of nuclear plants. On the contrary, Germany, which is facing an energy crisis due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has maintained its course in abandoning nuclear power. Lemke emphasised that ‘it is irresponsible to treat high-risk nuclear power plants like coffee makers that you refill with water, replace with new coffee beans and filters, and turn on again’. This would include the idea to develop state-of-the-art reactors - a proposal that was not in the original Sixth Strategic Energy Plan from October 2021. On 24 August, Prime Minister Kishida made a statement in the second session of the GX Conference on Green Transformation, an event that he personally organised, in which he explained that, in addition to resuming the operation of existing nuclear power plants, ‘every option is on the table’. However, looking at the controversies connected to nuclear power in Japan since the nuclear disaster in Fukushima in 2011, it is hard to believe that the country would move towards nuclear energy again. While it is still unclear what this would entail, there has been no widespread criticism of his policies among the general public. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has taken advantage of the public anxiety fuelled by these crises to announce a return to nuclear power. ![]() Ensuing economic sanctions against Russia by the United States and the European Union, as well as the reduction of gas imports, have intensified the energy crisis. The recovery from the economic recession caused by the pandemic led to a sharp increase in energy prices and, while the whole world was watching, Russia launched a military invasion of Ukraine. Humanity is currently facing multiple crises, ranging from the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic to the escalating challenge posed by climate change. ![]()
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