In order to achieve the goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Japan released a new energy policy on Tuesday, indicating that it will actively use nuclear power. This is the first time that the Japanese authorities have reversed their policy from reducing the use of nuclear power to increasing the use of nuclear power after the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Japanese media reported that the authorities attach importance to nuclear energy because the price of imported energy is high and it is necessary to ensure that Japan has enough energy to cope with the power-intensive artificial intelligence society.
Japan’s Ministry of Energy, Industry and Energy submitted its first draft of the basic energy plan on Tuesday (December 17), with the development of an artificial intelligence society as the basis for energy structure reform. According to the energy strategy plan, the authorities have high hopes for nuclear energy, and plan to increase the use of nuclear power by 20% by 2040, and other renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power will increase by 40% to 50% in total.
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, the basic energy plan issued by the Japanese authorities aimed to reflect on the accident and included “reducing dependence on nuclear energy as much as possible.” Now, not only has this sentence been deleted, but it has also clearly stated that the development of the next generation of nuclear reactors will be promoted.
In 2007, Japan’s electricity demand was actually on a downward trend due to population decline. However, the Japanese authorities believe that the formation of an artificial intelligence society will lead to a significant increase in electricity usage in the future.
Japan’s Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yoshiharu Muto said: “Our society needs a lot of electricity to support the next generation of technology, such as databases, semiconductors and other key industries. The strength of the country depends on how to obtain a stable supply of electricity. From an energy perspective, maximizing the use of nuclear power is particularly important for decarbonization and promoting economic growth.”
Japan is an energy importer, and according to the authorities’ comprehensive cost calculation, nuclear power will be cheaper than the currently dominant thermal power generation. In addition, with the goal of zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, nuclear power generation is also seen as a way to make up for the shortcomings of natural energy power generation, which has unstable supply due to climate change.
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, all 54 reactors in Japan were shut down. After the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Japanese authorities have resumed operation of 14 reactors in order to cope with the high price of imported energy. According to reports, in order to achieve the planned use of nuclear energy at 20%, Japan must start at least 30 reactors. In order to speed up the supply of nuclear power, the Japanese Energy Advisory Group recommends that the authorities should replace the decommissioned nuclear power plants with new advanced reactors.
In February 2023, the Japanese government passed the Basic Policy for Achieving Green Transformation, agreeing only to rebuild units at nuclear power plants that had been decided to be decommissioned. However, this amendment agreed to build new units at other nuclear power plants owned by the same power company under the name of “reconstruction.”
However, for power companies, the threshold for building new nuclear power units has become higher due to factors such as rising safety countermeasure costs. Therefore, in addition to urging companies to invest through improving institutional measures and market environment, the amendment will also evaluate risks that private financial institutions cannot afford and provide financing using government credit, showing the government’s full support.
