Japan’s Prime Minister Seeks Public Support for Nuclear Energy

[NickB79]

6. No, it is all very relevant. It's just not what you like to hear

Yes, Noda says they need to restart 2 reactors. I never argued that they will restart all of them:

"Sooner or later (probably sooner if Japan has a hot summer), they will have to restart at least some of their reactors"

Secondly, Germany has been working on their renewable energy base for the past 3 decades: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:KooCWxI3iFIJ:www.wind-works.org/FeedLaws/Germany/Three%2520decades%2520of%2520renewable%2520electricity%2520policy%2520in%2520Germany.doc+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESjLs8sLIWBo21NU961kE2mA_R52UqjIaCnk3DgrQjHb-_Pflvk8HHzqU76VOhMsO2GI6M8lciy3mKV1-faWORaSrUxSHC0v97i14gttLRo4MdLQszAIeOhIPv9Ef1rlP5xQtMwY&sig=AHIEtbTH46DTTFBoY4mwL_ox74WQmt9nLg

You are right that they only started in earnest on installation in the past 14 years; the first 15 were devoted primarily to R&D, which luckily Japan won't have to worry much about. That's why I stated that it will likely take them much less time to build out a large renewables base:

"Any fast-track program to replace the reactors with solar and wind will still take a decade or more to build out."

At a rate of 7GW per year, it will take Japan 7 years to replace their nuclear nameplate capacity. That would be a tremendous accomplishment, but if Japan gets an abnormally hot summer or abnormally cold winter in the next few years, they won't be able to just wait for the renewables build-out to be completed. Also, they will need to deal with the issue of running transmission capacity through the country. This is something that's already slowing Germany's push to build out their renewables base further.

And that's not even taking capacity factors into account, which I know drives you nuts when mentioned