Japan in U-turn over nuclear policy [View all]

[FBaggins]

More than a year after taking office with a vague promise to “rethink” Japan’s post-Fukushima repudiation of nuclear power, the government of Shinzo Abe is poised to formally reverse course and declare a long-term commitment to atomic energy.

The draft of a new Basic Energy Plan, made public on Tuesday, calls nuclear power an “important baseload electricity source” and effectively reverses a decision made by a previous government in 2012 to close all of Japan’s atomic power plants over the next several decades.

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The new Basic Plan, which is expected to be approved by Mr Abe’s cabinet by the end of March, could open the door to a broader nuclear revival, possibly even including the construction of new reactors. Though polls show a majority of Japanese remain antagonistic to atomic power after Fukushima, there are pockets of support in some areas that are home to plants, which bring jobs and subsidies.

In an election for governor in western Yamaguchi prefecture on Sunday, Tsugumasa Muraoka, a former interior ministry bureaucrat supported by Mr Abe’s Liberal Democratic party, defeated a pair of anti-nuclear candidates who had campaigned against plans to build a new plant in the town of Kaminoseki. The construction plan was approved before Fukushima but has been on hold since. In practice, the commitment by Mr Kan to eliminate nuclear power before 2040 had eroded almost since the start. Mr Kan’s own cabinet offered only qualified endorsement of the policy, and Mr Abe’s government has in effect ignored it.


http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/3ee7c4f2-9dd6-11e3-83c5-00144feab7de.html#axzz2uKk4Ivn9

"Possibly even including the construction of new reactors"? They restarted construction of new reactors at least a year ago.