Japan Contemplates Use Of Nuclear Power After Quake Hits Power Supply

Fukushima has been rocked again by a powerful earthquake, something that happened a decade ago and had led to a nuclear disaster then. The recent earthquake has been at a 7.3 rector scale and left the country without power.

As of now, there are thoughts about re-starting the dormant nuclear power plants and some ruling party lawmakers have urged the government to hasten the restart. But safety concerns continue to reel the options of not going ahead with it as of now.

The Fukushima nuclear power plant faced a big mishap in 2011, when Japan was rocked by a massive earthquake. Since then, the nuclear power plants have been kept out of commission. As of now, there is a reeling tsunami concern over the country as well, as the country struggles with a no power situation.

Power from nuclear plants slid to almost zero by 2014 in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, but now stands at about 3% of total energy production.

The government wants to expand that to 20%-22% by 2030. But people are skeptical about the safety of the reactors in the wake of natural disasters.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has also had to take steps to better guard its 17 nuclear plants amid global alarm over Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida considering the formation of a new police protection unit. Their primary task will be to safeguard the 59 reactors at the plants around Japan.

“Public interest in the safety of nuclear plants has surged,” Kishida said this week, in reference to footage of the Russian military assaulting the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the facility at Zaporizhzhzia, the largest atomic energy facility in Europe.