Japan approves two reactor restarts, depite large public protests

[herm]

Demand for natural gas imports will remain heavy

Linda Sieg And Kiyoshi Takenaka - REUTERS - June 16, 2012

PM Noda overcomes public opposition to nukes --Ed.

Japan on Saturday approved the resumption of nuclear power operations at two reactors despite mass public opposition, the first to come back on line after they were all shut down following the Fukushima crisis.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, his popularity ratings sagging, had backed the restarts for some time. He announced the government's decision at a meeting with key ministers, giving the go-ahead to two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co at Ohi in western Japan.

The decision, despite public concerns over safety after the big earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima plant, could open the door to more restarts among Japan's 50 nuclear power reactors.

The push to restart the two Ohi reactors, before a potential summer power crunch, also underscores the premier's eagerness to win backing from businesses worried about high electricity costs that could push factories offshore. Kansai electric says it will take six weeks to get both reactors running fully.

But the decision risks a backlash from a public deeply concerned about nuclear safety. As many as 10,000 demonstrators gathered outside Noda's office on Friday night amid a heavy police presence to denounce the restarts, urging the premier to step down and shouting "Lives matter more than the economy."

The Nuclear and Industry Safety Agency, the current watchdog, has approved stress tests for Shikoku Electric Power Co Inc's 890-megawatt No.3 reactor in Ikata, southern Japan. Next on the list for possible approval are two Hokkaido Electric Power reactors in Tomari, northern Japan and Hokuriku Electric's two in Shika, western Japan.... [Read More]

[herm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ōi_Nuclear_Power_Plant

[Carcus]

Death Race 2000,.... Japanese style!

[phoebeisis]

What other choice do they have?
If you "believe" in man caused CO2 released Global Warming?
Or if the Japanese want their economy to not tank worse than it has already has the last 15 years.

Just how many people died or were injured in that NUKE accident? Or worldwide in nuclear power accidents? Go ahead-count miners.
How many die mining and burning coal? Remember the deadly "fog" in London(1950's) and in Penn(I think) multiply that by 1000. How many folks die-black lung- in the USA-and China-mining coal?
Coal or NUKES?
If we ship NG to Japan-we will pay more-much more-for electricity.
Coal is 1000x more deadly than nuclear energy.(granted it can't make large swaths of land unihabitable-so make the nukes safer!)

[herm]

Thats why I like small modular nukes, easy to build, easy to maintain and if everything goes wrong they only make one block inhabitable

[Carcus]

Perhaps a realization that racing to be #1 in manufacturing isn't such a great idea -- especially when you're a small, resource limited island nation.......hmmmmmmm?

/hasn't this mindset led to "nuclear problems" before?

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Originally Posted by Carcus

Perhaps a realization that racing to be #1 in manufacturing isn't such a great idea -- especially when you're a small, resource limited island nation.......hmmmmmmm?

/hasn't this mindset led to "nuclear problems" before?

Actually, Japan having a lot of manufacturing really isn't a problem.

The problem countries are the ones that have a lot of natural resources that they waste or fail to exploit.

[herm]

What is the value of the electricity produced by those 50 nukes?.. another example of too big to fail.

http://financegreenwatch.org/?p=4754

Scrapping All Reactors Would Set Utilities Back Y4.39 trillion
June 19th, 2012

TOKYO (Nikkei)–Ten power companies would incur a total of 4.39 trillion yen in extraordinary charges if forced to decommission all 50 of Japan’s nuclear reactors this fiscal year, excluding the four disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi reactors already slated to be scrapped, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry estimates.

Nine electric companies and Japan Atomic Power Co. set aside reserves to prepare for future expenses associated with decommissioning reactors. But none of these firms are prepared to immediately shut these facilities down for good.

The power companies would be saddled with a 1.23 trillion yen shortfall in funding if forced to decommission all reactors. They would also incur 3.16 trillion yen in losses resulting from the decimated asset value of nuclear plant facilities and fuel.

The 10 firms’ net assets would plunge 75% compared with the end of fiscal 2011 to 1.46 trillion yen.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. , Hokkaido Electric Power Co. , Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power would all suffer negative net worth.