Japan raises the nuclear energy objective in an important change after Fukushima

Japan says that it will increase its dependence on nuclear energy in an important policy change, since it seeks to satisfy the growing demand for hungry sectors of power such as AI and semiconductors.

An energy plan approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday required “maximizing the use of nuclear energy” and withdrew the reference to “reduce the dependence of nuclear energy.”

The Energy Plan, Written by the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Industry He says that by 2040, nuclear energy should represent 20% of the Japan Network supply in 2040, more than double the 8.5% participation in 2023.

Comes like him Fukushima nuclear plant disaster 14 years ago, he continues to hang on the country, conjuring painful memories.

In March 2011, An earthquake of magnitude of 9.0 Near the Northeast coast of Japan generated a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people, cleaning entire cities and flooding the reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Japan now operates 14 commercial nuclear reactors, compared to 54 before Fukushima disaster, when 30% of the country’s energy was nuclear sources.

The plan still needs the approval of Parliament, where it will be discussed in the coming months.

The country, which imports 90% of its fuel, needs to look energy.

“Due to the conflict in Ukraine and war in the Middle East, even fossil fuels have become difficult to buy,” he told the BBC. “Japan is a country without energy resources, so we must use what is available in a balanced way.”

Yamagiwa added that energy loads are growing due to the demand for AI data processing centers and semiconductor factories throughout the country.

But experts say that the growing dependence on nuclear energy will be risky and expensive.

Japan will need to import uranium, which is expensive and will make the country depend on other countries, said Professor Kenichi Oshima, professor at the Faculty of Policies Sciences of the University of Ryukoku.

Professor Kenichi told the BBC that the main concern is that increasing the number of nuclear power plants also increases the risk of potentially disastrous accidents.

He cited the New Year’s Day earthquake of 2024 in the Peninsula Noto, where two decades ago, a plan to build a nuclear plant was discarded because the premises opposed.

“If there had been a nuclear energy plant there, it is quite clear that it would have caused a great accident,” he said.

In Japan, any nuclear energy mention inevitably brings difficult memories of the nuclear crisis in the Daiichi energy plant.

“We all had such a terrible experience at the time of the Fukushima earthquake,” said Tokyo’s resident Yuko Maruyama, to the BBC.

“How could I support it (the nuclear energy plan)? I want the government to trust other energy sources,” he added.

“As a mother, I think of children, their safety. I can’t help thinking about what would happen in the future.”

The collapse in Fukushima is considered the worst in the world since Chernobyl in 1986.

He stirred a new controversy in 2023, when Japan began to release treated water from the Fukushima plant site. This caused protests from the neighbors of Japan, including China, on security concerns.

The United Nations Atomic Energy Regulator, OIEA, said wastewater were safe and would have an “insignificant” impact on people and the environment.

In response to the new energy plan announced this week, Greenpeace said that promoting nuclear energy is “outrageous” when Fukushima’s consequences are still ongoing.

“There is no justification to continue depending on nuclear energy, which remains toxic for tens of thousands of years, produces radioactive waste that requires long -term management and entails risks such as earthquakes and terrorism,” the group said.

To fulfill the objective of the government, experts say that 33 reactors must put back online, but the current rhythm of security controls, as well as the objections of residents in some areas will make it difficult.

Many of these nuclear plants are old and must be reconditioned with a new technology to work safely.

“That most difficult problem is that each nuclear energy plant is in a different location and will need its own security protocol and infrastructure,” Yamagiwa said.

“We must verify each of them carefully. It still takes time.”

In recent months, regulators have granted several old reactors approval to continue operating.

In October 2024, the oldest reactor in Japan, the Takahama Nuclear Plant, received the approval to continue operations, so it is the first reactor in the country to obtain approval to operate beyond the 50 years.