18 April 2016
By Julian Ryall
Citizens’ groups, (click here) local residents and prominent anti-nuclear activists are calling on the operator of the Sendai nuclear power plant, which is less than 150km from the epicentre of Saturday’s massive earthquake, to suspend operations at the facility.
In a letter sent to the headquarters of Kyushu Electric Power Co on Sunday, the protestors said events at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake show the danger that faces the Sendai facility.
The two reactors at Sendai, in Kagoshima Prefecture, are the only two that have been granted permission by the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart operations. The first reactor was restarted on August 11, with Naoto Kan, the former prime minister, among he protestors demonstrating outside the main gates of the plant.
“Based on the experience at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it is clear to everyone that it would be too late if you waited for some abnormality to occur,” the message sent to Kyushu Electric read.
Among those who have signed the letter are writers Keiko Ochiai, Takashi Hirose and Hisae Sawachi, as well as Nodoka Yamada, a university student who is a member of the Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy...
Some countries know the importance of changing to alternative energies.
21 April 2016
by Hirokazu Ina, Kaoru Umino and Naoko Tokumoto
Japan's Cabinet (click here) recently approved a series of amendments (the "Amendments") to the Act on Special Measures Concerning the Procurement of Renewable Energy by Operators of Electric Utilities (the "Act"),1which, when approved and implemented, are likely to have a significant effect on the feasibility and profitability of current and future renewable energy projects. The impacts on developers will include: (i)increasing pressure to conclude interconnection agreements with utility companies as quickly as possible to obtain facility certification by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry ("METI") and to secure a favorable purchase price; (ii)requiring detailed and comprehensive plans for project development at the time of facility certification, with disincentives for amending such plans after a project has been certified; and (iii)requiring developers of ongoing projects to review existing agreements with utility companies to ensure compliance with the Amendments....
18 April 2016
By Danielle Demetriou
Japan’s atomic regulator (click here) will not shut down the nation’s only operating nuclear plant on earthquake-hit Kyushu island, despite concerns of a repeat of the Fukushima crisis.The Nuclear Regulation Authority’s (NRA) decision came to light as the race to rescue survivors of the deadly earthquakes in southern Japan continued, with 10 still missing and the death toll rising to 42.
The Kumamoto region of Kyushu island was first hit last Thursday by a major tremor claiming nine lives which proved to be a foreshock to a bigger 7.3 magnitude earthquake striking early Saturday, killing a further 33....
