{"id":193881,"date":"2021-03-04T12:24:12","date_gmt":"2021-03-04T09:24:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/decade-after-fukushima-japans-nuclear-industry-stalled\/"},"modified":"2021-03-04T12:24:12","modified_gmt":"2021-03-04T09:24:12","slug":"decade-after-fukushima-japans-nuclear-industry-stalled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/decade-after-fukushima-japans-nuclear-industry-stalled\/","title":{"rendered":"#Decade after Fukushima, Japan’s nuclear industry stalled"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Decade after Fukushima, Japan’s nuclear industry stalled<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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\n A decade after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, the majority of Japan’s reactors are halted or on the path towards decommissioning
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Ten years after the Fukushima disaster, Japan’s nuclear industry remains crippled, with the majority of its reactors halted or on the path towards decommissioning.<\/p>\n

The government still hopes to revitalise the sector, in part to reduce the country’s dependence on energy imports as well as help it meet a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.<\/p>\n

What is the situation at Fukushima?<\/b><\/p>\n

Around 5,000 people are still working daily at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, where four reactors were severely damaged by the March 11, 2011 tsunami triggered by a powerful earthquake.<\/p>\n

Tangled scrap metal can still be seen strewn around parts of the site, including at the top of reactor 1, whose roof blew off during the disaster.<\/p>\n

Three reactors melted down in all and even now mobile Geiger counters periodically beep throughout the site.<\/p>\n

So far, the reactors’ surroundings have been cleared, intact fuel rods have been removed with giant cranes, and new concrete dikes are being built to protect against tsunamis.<\/p>\n

But the most difficult part lies ahead: extracting nearly 900 tons of molten fuel mixed with other highly radioactive debris.<\/p>\n

Development in Britain of a special robotic arm for use in the operation was delayed by the pandemic, pushing back the start of the extraction process by a year to 2022.<\/p>\n

But that’s barely a blip in a decommissioning process expected to take 30 to 40 years, at best.<\/p>\n

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\"Tangled
\n Tangled scrap metal can still be seen strewn around parts of the reactor site
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What are the dangers at the site?<\/b><\/p>\n

A 7.3-magnitude quake that hit the region overnight on February 13 this year did not spark a tsunami or cause major damage, including at the Fukushima plant.<\/p>\n

But it caused cooling water levels to drop in several reactors\u2014though plant operator TEPCO said the effect was limited, as the water is in a closed system that does not leach into the surrounding environment.<\/p>\n

Mountain groundwater that leaks into the subsoil below the reactors and becomes radioactive was a major problem after the disaster. <\/p>\n

Seepage is now largely prevented by an “ice wall” of frozen soil that runs 30 metres deep and 1.5 kilometres long, completed in 2018.
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Rain and other water used for cooling continues to pose a problem, with around 140 cubic metres of radioactive water generated by the site every day in 2020.<\/p>\n

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\"Rain
\n Rain and other water used for cooling continues to pose a problem
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The contaminated water is filtered to remove most radioactive material.<\/p>\n

For now it is kept in hundreds of blue, grey and cream tanks at the site\u2014but space is running out.<\/p>\n

By summer 2022, there will be no more storage available and the government is expected to app<\/a>rove a controversial plan to gradually release the treated water into the sea.<\/p>\n

What role does nuclear have now?<\/b><\/p>\n

All of Japan’s reactors were halted after the accident and nuclear safety regulations were tightened significantly.<\/p>\n

Just nine reactors are currently operational, compared to 54 before March 2011, and two dozen are set for decommissioning.<\/p>\n

Nuclear accounted for just 6.2 percent of electricity generation in Japan in fiscal 2019, a fraction of the 30 percent before the accident, according to official figures.<\/p>\n

The government’s current goal, which is being reviewed, is for nuclear to account for 20-22 percent of electricity generation by 2030\u2014a target viewed as impossible by many experts.<\/p>\n

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\"All
\n All of Japan’s reactors were halted after the accident and nuclear safety regulations were tightened significantly
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Why push for nuclear power?<\/b><\/p>\n

A majority of Japanese remain opposed to nuclear power after the trauma of the Fukushima disaster, and dozens of lawsuits have been filed by communities near plants in a bid to prevent them restarting.<\/p>\n

Other obstacles include the astronomical costs of implementing new nuclear security measures, as well as the longer-term price tag for decommissioning and maintenance of both operational and halted plants.<\/p>\n

In early 2020, Japanese news<\/a> agency Kyodo calculated these costs for all the country’s reactors at 13,460 billion yen ($129 billion). <\/p>\n

But the figure does not include the cost of decommissioning Fukushima Daiichi and decontamination work in the region.<\/p>\n

“The future of nuclear power is very bleak,” Takeo Kikkawa, an energy expert and professor at the International University of Japan, said this week.<\/p>\n