OECD Urges Japan to Restart Nuclear Plants
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
Despite widespread public opposition, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has called on Japan to restart its nuclear plants, provided they are deemed safe to ensure a stable power supply.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria urged Japan to resume nuclear electricity generation, given that nuclear power supplied almost a third of the country’s electricity needs before last year’s atomic disaster.
Despite widespread public opposition, the head of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has called on Japan to restart its nuclear plants, provided they are deemed safe to ensure a stable power supply.
Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria urged Japan to resume nuclear electricity generation, given that nuclear power supplied almost a third of the country’s electricity needs before last year’s atomic disaster.
Warning of how a power supply shortage could restrict the nation’s industrial output, Gurria said:
[quote] As a condition of growth policy, you have to have sufficient sources of energy to fuel the economy, households, companies, and infrastructure. You cannot substitute 30 percent of installed capacity overnight. [/quote]Related Story: Barely A Year After Fukushima, IEA Says: Embrace Nuclear
Related Story: Japan Electricity Losses: Summer Without Air Conditioning ???
Forecasts are assuming higher temperatures this summer and Japanese power companies say existing energy supplies may be insufficient when demand peaks.
On Monday, Kansai Electric Power, the Japanese utility most reliant on nuclear energy, said it might face a power shortage of about 20 percent in July unless it can restart reactors taken offline after the Fukushima crisis in March last year.
Since then, no power plant that has gone offline for regular safety checks has been permitted to restart, and only one of Japan’s 50 reactors remains in action – but is due to be shut down on May 5.
Related Story: Japan’s Enduring Resilience: Lessons For The Rest Of The World
Japanese ministers have been trying to win public support to reactivate idle, and safe, reactors, but a survey by the Nikkei business daily showed on Monday that a majority of Japanese people remain opposed to the plan to restart nuclear reactors.
Gurria said he understood a more cautious public view of nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, but he hoped Japan would continue “to have an important nuclear capacity to generate electricity”.
For now, Tokyo is looking abroad for energy supplies, particularly in the booming US shale gas industry, as the country prepares for a future less reliant on nuclear power, reported the Financial Times.
Jogmec, the Japanese state company that finances overseas natural resources investment, has expressed a “strong interest” in investing in natural gas projects in the wake of Fukushima.
According to the Financial Times, the Japanese government is due to decide by the middle of the year what proportion of the country’s electricity should be generated by nuclear power by 2030 – a decision that could shape global energy markets for years to come.
Related Story: Will Germany Regret Going Non-Nuclear?
Related Story: Taiwan: Another Fukushima In The Making?
