Japan goes back to the future

Japan plans reversal of post-Fukushima nuclear phase-out

4 hours ago4 hours ago

The global energy crisis has caused Japan to turn away from a temporary nuclear phase-out and promote atomic energy. The government wants old reactors to be kept operating and new ones built to replace them over time.

The Japanese government on Thursday passed a directive promoting nuclear energy to maintain its power supply while reducing CO2 emissions.

The new policy is a major turnaround after the country closed its nuclear facilities in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

What does the new directive foresee?

Under the directive, prompted by the global fuel crisis, existing nuclear reactors in Japan would see their lifespan extended beyond the previous limit of 60 years and next-generation reactors would be built to replace the old ones in the long term.

After the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011 in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami, Japan shut down all its reactors and introduced new safety standards.