Japan is the first country to wean itself off nuclear power. [View all]

[Bonobo]

Yesterday, for the first time in over 40 years, Japan became a country with no nuclear power generation.

It pulled the plug on the final nuclear reactor, at least for the time being.

It will be a long, hot summer and everyone here is pulling together to try to use as little energy as possible. It is called "Setsuden" (conserving energy).

The politicians are nervous because if Japan can make it with no nuclear power, it means the end to an entire nuclear power industry that obviously provides a lot of kickbacks.

Let's all support Japan in its brave effort to make a radical change, the likes of which have not been seen in any other country in the world.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C05%5C05%5Cstory_5-5-2012_pg4_8

Japan switches off last nuclear power plant; will it cope?

The shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 and has put electricity producers on the defensive

JAPAN shuts down its last working nuclear power reactor this weekend just over a year after a tsunami scarred the nation and if it survives the summer without major electricity shortages, producers fear the plants will stay offline for good. The shutdown leaves Japan without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 and has put electricity producers on the defensive. Public opposition to nuclear power could become more deeply entrenched if non-nuclear generation proves enough to meet Japan’s needs in the peak-demand summer months.

“Can it be the end of nuclear power? It could be,” said Andrew DeWit, a professor at Rikkyo University in Tokyo who studies energy policy. “That’s one reason why people are fighting it to the death.”

Japan managed to get through the summer last year without any blackouts by imposing curbs on use in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. Factories operated at night and during weekends to avoid putting too much stress on the country’s power grids. A similar success this year would weaken the argument of proponents of nuclear power. “They don’t have the polls on their side,” said DeWit. “Once they go through the summer without reactors, how will they fire them up? They know that, so they will try their darndest but I don’t see how.”