– JP Gov to restart the construction of 2 nuclear plants (Fukushima Diary, Sep 15, 2012):
Japanese government is not going to shut down nuclear plants.
They approved the construction of 2 more nuclear plants in Aomori and Shimane.
On 9/15/2012, Edano, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry had a meeting with Aomori governor and headmen of local governments in Aomori city and approved the construction and restart of nuclear plants in Oma (Aomori) and Shimane nuclear plant.
It’s unit3 that they are going to restart the construction in Shimane nuclear plant. Oma nuclear plant belongs to J-power (construction progress 37.6%) , Shimane nuclear plant belongs to The Chugoku Electric Power Co.,Inc. (construction progress 93.6%)
Those constructions have been stopped since 311. This will be the first restart of construction of nuclear plants since Fukushima accident.
Japanese government decided on 9/14/2012 to phase out nuclear power completely sometime in the 2030s, approving a “massive” shift in national energy policy 18 months after the Fukushima Daiichi plant disaster spurred strong public opposition to nuclear power in the earthquake-prone nation.
The target means the world’s third-largest industrial economy has set a goal of eliminating an energy source that prior to the March 2011 Fukushima disaster provided about 30 percent of Japan’s electricity. Before the disaster, the nation had planned to boost the role of nuclear energy.
The policy turnaround comes after Germany and Switzerland decided to phase out nuclear power and Italy decided to drop a plan to reintroduce nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
However, because they are going to allow these newly constructed nuclear plants to run for 40 years, they will be generating power until 2050s, which contradicts 2030 policy.
The construction of Higashi dori nuclear plant in Aomori has also been stopped since 311 as well, which belongs to Tepco. Edano is pending the approval to restart the construction to comment Tepco is not ready to have a discussion about the restart.
In total, there are 12 plans to build new nuclear plants in Japan.