Japan Lifts Operational Ban on World's Biggest Nuclear Plant (reuters.com) 19
Japan's nuclear power regulator this week lifted an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant two years ago, allowing it to work towards gaining local permission to restart. From a report: Tepco has been eager to bring the world's largest atomic power plant back online to slash operating costs, but a resumption still needs consent from the local governments of Niigata prefecture, Kashiwazaki city and Kariwa village, where it is located. When that might happen is unknown.
With capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW), the plant has been offline since 2012 after the Fukushima disaster a year earlier led to the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan at the time. In 2021, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) barred Tepco from operating Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, its only operable atomic power station, due to safety breaches including the failure to protect nuclear materials and missteps that saw an unauthorised staff member accessing sensitive areas of the plant.
With capacity of 8,212 megawatts (MW), the plant has been offline since 2012 after the Fukushima disaster a year earlier led to the shutdown of all nuclear power plants in Japan at the time. In 2021, the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) barred Tepco from operating Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, its only operable atomic power station, due to safety breaches including the failure to protect nuclear materials and missteps that saw an unauthorised staff member accessing sensitive areas of the plant.
Good (Score:5, Informative)
Japan emits more than 500g CO2/kWh [electricitymaps.com]. Mainly by burning coal.
Maybe that will lower the carbon intensity of their electricity mix, which is a good thing.
Re:Good (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know why this is being voted down. It is completely accurate. 1/3rd of Japan's energy is coal fire plants.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0... [nytimes.com]
Japan suspended much of its nuclear power production after Fukushima Daiichi - despite causing no direct deaths.
https://www.reuters.com/world/... [reuters.com]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Sadly people do definitely die from coal plants.
https://news.utexas.edu/2023/1... [utexas.edu]
Re: (Score:2)
Japan suspended ALL its nuclear plants after Fukushima. They lights stayed on. I was there at the time, energy saving measures were put in place.
The official death toll is 2,335. About 600 are considered to have been a direct result of the nuclear accident, as in they died directly because of the necessary evacuation due to release of nuclear material into the nearby towns.
Re: (Score:2)
The mass shutdown of Japan's reactors after the Fukushima disaster was itself a disaster for the planet.
A similar design to indian point...? (Score:1)
About time for the planet (Score:4, Interesting)
Japan has been opening new coal power plants and burning fossil fuel while it's Nuclear fleet has been offline.
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant has a nameplate capacity of almost 8GW and will generate zero CO2 emissions.
While the Fukushima nuclear accident was a wake up call for Japan to ensure that safety measures against earthquakes are more effective, the reality is that there have been zero deaths due to radiation due to the disaster.
Nuclear is one of the safest and cleanest forms of power generation on the planet.
Re: (Score:2)
And thankfully the nuclear industry is one that learns from mistakes.
https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/o... [nrc.gov]
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Here is an interesting comparison. To achieve the same capacity with wind turbines, you would need ~9000 of them (assumptions: 2.5MW, 0.35 CF). To put into perspective, China deployed ~20000 wind turbines domestically in 2022: more than the rest of the world combined, and they could do that because they control the mining, the manufacturing, and get away with the NIMBY crowd we have in the West.
These kinds of numbers of what makes up reality. This is why solar/wind will never manage to be the only answer to
Re: About time for the planet (Score:2)
Even if this is true it's only because those same people were ignored for so long. The ones who should be humble are the ones who didn't listen to sane voices not motivated by greed.
Re: (Score:2)
The ones who should be humble are the ones who didn't listen to sane voices not motivated by greed.
Like you?
Re: (Score:2)
Oh man. I do feel bad for you. You really think you are the victim here? I think you do really believe it.
For the rest of normal people though, you are just one of the crazies that want to see more people suffer because of your ideological beliefs.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There is a lot of opposition to restarting nuclear plants, not least because of how dismissive people like you have been about the effects of the Fukushima disaster.
Remember that it's not just that one disaster. There have been regular accidents at Japanese nuclear plants since they started.
Anyway, people see how the former residents who used to live near Fukushima have been treated, and realize that the promises about being looked after were all bunk. The government and the operator won't get enhanced insu
Japan has no uranium reserves (Score:2)
Japan won't gain energy independence with nuclear power, as the uranium has to come from somewhere, typically Australia or Canada,