Japan PM eyes nuclear power push to combat energy crunch

Nuclear power is a sensitive topic in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima disaster

Japan's prime minister on Wednesday called for a push to revive the country's nuclear power industry in a bid to tackle soaring imported energy costs linked to the Ukraine war.

Such a move could prove controversial after the 2011 Fukushima disaster led to the suspension of many nuclear reactors over safety fears.

"Russia's invasion of Ukraine has vastly transformed the world's energy landscape" and so "Japan needs to bear in mind potential crisis scenarios", Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at an energy policy meeting.

Kishida called for "concrete conclusions by the end of the year" on the topic, which remains a sensitive one after a deadly tsunami in March 2011 caused a meltdown at the Fukushima plant, the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The national nuclear safety watchdog has approved in principle the restart of seven more reactors, but those moves often face opposition from local communities.

"In addition to securing the operations of the 10 reactors that are already back online, the government will spearhead an effort to do all it takes to realise the restart" of the others whose safety has been approved, Kishida said.

Before the Fukushima disaster, a third of Japan's power generation came from nuclear sources, but in 2020 the figure stood at less than five percent.

Bringing more existing nuclear plants online will need to be approved by local governors, which could prove "politically challenging", O'Sullivan told AFP.

For the Japanese public, "I don't think it's just the electricity costs. It's the reliance on Russia, for natural gas, oil and coal... the Japanese public have really woken up to that."

Japan has imposed sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine along with other G7 countries.

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