As Business Insider put it, “the sudden shutdown of nuclear plants has hit Japan's economy hard. To offset the shortfall, utilities have ramped up oil- and gas-based generation, and that contributed to the country's biggest annual trade deficit ever last fiscal year….”
I’ve blogged previously about the crippling financial burden that Japan has faced as a direct result of shutting down all of its 50 reactors. While the stress tests and checks have been vital, it is just as important that the rest of the reactor fleet be restarted once the government is satisfied with their safety and, just as I was certain the restarts would begin, so I am sure that they will continue.
Why the certainty? It was no surprise that Japan embraced nuclear power in the first place because it has the unbeatable combination of low cost, low emission and high base load advantages that fossil fuels simply can’t compete with. Those fundamental strengths haven’t changed and, with energy demands on the increase now and over the long term, nuclear energy remains critical for Japan’s ongoing energy strategy.
Dev Randhawa
