Japan can restart two nuclear reactors

[Baclava]

Source: Sky News

Japan's nuclear watchdog has given the green light for two reactors to restart, one year after the energy-poor country shut down its last unit in the aftermath of the Fukushima crisis.

The go-ahead from the Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) comes after it issued a more than 400-page safety report, saying two reactors at the Sendai plant in southern Japan were safe to switch back on, and follows a month-long public consultation period.

More challenging, perhaps, is gaining the consent of communities living near the plant, who must sign off on the restarts before they can happen.

Read more: http://www.skynews.com.au/news/world/asiapacific/2014/09/10/japan-can-restart-two-nuclear-reactors.html

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well, I guess the whale oil lamps are running dry

[Demeter]

1. How does that Definition of Insanity Go?

Fool me once....no, that's not it.

[Jerry442]

2. When will they ever learn?...When will they ever learn?

So sorry, Pete. We should have done better.

[cstanleytech]

5. Its not a question of learning, they clearly know it after Fukushima but I suspect

that they need the nuclear plants for the power as they dont have anything that can truly replace them atm.
Hopefully though they are investing more in alternative sources like geothermal but such replacements for the nuclear plants will still take years to build and bring online.

[davidpdx]

3. I believe they rely quite a bit on nuclear power as does Korea

Maybe one of our members in Japan can chime in.

[FBaggins]

7. That all depends on how you define "rely"

They obviously haven't gotten much electricity from nuclear power over the last three years... so do they "rely" on it?

OTOH, they've been running old fossil plants longer and at higher capacity rates... and still had to constrain demand (with some people dying from heatstroke without air conditioning)... as well as take big hits to their balance of trade and GDP (which just saw the largest negative figure in 5+ years).

That might reasonably be called something they relied on - but have had to suffer without.

[davidpdx]

8. Yes, they have relied in the past up until the Fukushima disaster

Unfortunately since they put too many eggs in one basket, that means they have to switch to electricity from another source.

The nuclear power plants were taken down last summer (2013) in Korea because of faulty parts (not faulty, but more so parts that were fake) and they warned us about rolling blackouts. We got pretty damn close a few days, but it never happened.

I'm sure that was hard for the elderly as they are usually the ones who are vulnerable.

[Art_from_Ark]

10. Chiming in

震災前後の電源構成の比較
　資源エネルギー庁によると、日本の総発電量に占める原子力の比率は、震災前の2010年12月に32％だったのが、2012年12月は2％まで減少。代わりに石油等とLNG（液化天然ガス）の火力発電が、それぞれ4％から19％、33％から47％に増加しています。ほぼ割合の変わらない石炭（24％）を含めると、火力発電全体の比率は6割から9割まで上昇しました。水力発電は6～7％です。

A comparison of electric power sources before and after the March 2011 disasters

According to the Resources and Energy Agency, in December 2010 (before the disasters) nuclear power accounted for 32% of the electricity produced in Japan, but by December 2012 it had shrunk to 2%. To make up for the loss of nuclear power, the shares of petroleum- and LNG (liquid natural gas)-based generation rose from 4% to 19%, and from 33% to 47%, respectively. The share of coal-fired generation remained relatively unchanged, at 24%. The total share of thermal power generation rose from 60% to 90%. Hydroelectric power generation stands at 6 to 7%.

http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130708-00010004-wordleaf-soci

[Hoppy]

4. contest for SUPER DARWIN AWARD

[Trillo]

6. privatize the profits, socialize the costs

Supply power for charge to local residents, if those residents decide they want it, then should the plant ever meltdown, or even have a minor leak, pollute the whole world.

[Union Scribe]

9. Good.

They've been importing billions upon billions of Yen worth of fossil fuels. Logic needs to trump fear.

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Japan is the only country in the world to have experienced two different types

of nuclear disasters. In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, and the 200 square miles of land that have been rendered uninhabitable as a result, the Japanese have every right to be wary of nuclear power.