Nuclear energy in japan

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Currently (as of December 2017), only 5 reactor blocks are in operation in Japan due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster , while 42 reactor blocks are operational, but have been shut down and are in a long-term standstill. Of the operational reactor blocks, 21 are in the approval process for restarting.

Before Fukushima, the share of nuclear power in total electricity generation was 30 percent. In 2015, 1041 TWh of electricity were generated in Japan , but only 9 TWh of this came from nuclear power plants. H. less than one percent.

List of nuclear reactors in Japan

Reactor units in operation

The following nuclear power plants are currently in operation (as of December 2017): Ikata (Unit 3), Sendai (Units 1 and 2) and Takahama (Units 3 and 4).

history

To Fukushima

Japan began a nuclear research program in 1954. The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) was founded in 1956. The first experimental reactor JPDR went into operation in 1963; In 1966 the first commercially used reactor block followed in the Tōkai nuclear power plant .

In Japan, a complete fuel cycle has been established based on imported uranium, as Japan does not have its own uranium deposits. The uranium enrichment and reprocessing facility of the same name is located in Rokkasho . The uranium enrichment plant went into operation in 1997. The Nuclear Fuel Industries (NFI) operates two fuel factories : one in Tōkai, which began operations in 1972 and another in Kumatori. On September 30, 1999, a category 4 accident occurred in the Tōkai fuel assembly plant (see Tōkaimura nuclear accident ).

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) was created in 2005 through the merger of JAERI and the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC).

Coal, natural gas and nuclear power plants generated roughly the same amount of electricity in Japan in 2010. In November 2010, Japan operated 55 nuclear power plants with a capacity of 47,348 megawatts and 50 test reactors . The government's long-term program envisaged increasing capacity to 70,000 megawatts by 2010 through new nuclear power plants. Japan participates in research into Generation IV reactor concepts and was very active in the field of nuclear energy until the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011. In 2010, two reactors were under construction and twelve more in the planning stage.

Japan is a country rich in earthquakes . All nuclear power plants therefore have earthquake measuring devices, are automatically shut down in the event of tremors above a certain strength and are built on rocky ground. All commercially operated nuclear power plants in Japan are located by the sea and must be protected from tsunamis by walls or an elevated position . After the devastating Kobe earthquake in 1995 , in which more than 6,400 people died, the regulations were tightened. Reactors built since then must be able to withstand earthquakes of at least 7.75 magnitude; earthquakes of up to 8.25 in particularly endangered regions. Most Japanese nuclear power plants were built before this regulation was tightened.

Fukushima

In March 2011, after the Tōhoku earthquake ( moment magnitude of 9.0) and the resulting tsunami, the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred ; At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant , this led to a core meltdown in three reactors . The nuclear reactors ( construction started in 1967, 1969, 1970, 1973, 1972, 1973 ) were all old. Such a disaster in Japan was unimaginable for many. This nuclear disaster released 500 times more radioactive cesium-137 than the Hiroshima atomic bomb .

To Fukushima

Naoto Kan , Prime Minister until September 2, 2011, announced in July 2011 that he wanted to phase out nuclear power in the long term. At the same time, the government urged that nuclear power plants that had been shut down for inspection be brought back into operation in the summer in order to avoid impending electricity bottlenecks. This met with criticism from the population.

Kan's successor in the Prime Minister's office, Yoshihiko Noda , has also announced a medium-term phase-out from nuclear energy. Although existing nuclear power plants should initially be allowed to continue to operate, he considers the construction of new nuclear power plants to be "unlikely". In addition, Noda is planning a "new energy mix".

Since Fukushima, the Japanese have been saving massive amounts of electricity in order to be able to shut down as many nuclear reactors as possible as a precaution - one feared further earthquakes or aftershocks .

On August 26, 2011, only 18 of the former 54 Japanese nuclear reactors were in operation. In December 2011, 9 reactors supplied electricity, in February 2012 only 2 of the former 54 reactors were connected to the grid. Nevertheless, the energy saving ordinance applicable to the summer was repealed in the weaker winter.

In March 2012, the penultimate nuclear reactor still running went offline as planned; in May 2012 the last reactor, reactor 3 in the Tomari nuclear power plant (a pressurized water reactor with 866 MW net output; connected to the grid since December 2009), went offline for maintenance work; since then Japan has been nuclear free. In many parts of Japan, local authorities persistently refused to restart nuclear reactors that have shut down. In June 2012, two nuclear reactors at the Ōi nuclear power plant should be restarted .

Environment Minister Gōshi Hosono said that Japan must continue to rely on nuclear power. The island nation of Japan cannot buy electricity from neighboring countries like Germany.

In mid-September 2012, a year and a half after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the gradual phase-out of nuclear energy by 2040 at the latest. A few days later, however, the relevant strategy paper was discarded in a cabinet meeting. The arguments cited were that a nuclear phase-out would burden the economy and the import of oil, coal and gas would result in high additional costs. The government then approved an energy turnaround , but left the time for the decommissioning of the nuclear power plants open.

After the Shūgiin election on December 16, 2012 , there was a change of government: Shinzō Abe became Prime Minister and appointed the Shinzō Abe I cabinet . He began a radical economic and financial policy ( Abenomics ) with the aim of revitalizing the Japanese economy. He is in favor of restarting nuclear reactors, although a majority of the population is against in surveys.

In September 2013, Japan was again free of nuclear power: the two reactors that were restarted after May 2012 (3 and 4 of the Ōi nuclear power plant ) were shut down in September. On August 11, 2015, the Sendai nuclear power plant was restarted despite protests, later block 3 of the Ikata nuclear power plant and blocks 3 and 4 of the Takahama nuclear power plant and block 3 of the Ōi nuclear power plant . On the other hand, the operators in this regard have decided to remove Block 1 of the Genkai nuclear power plant , Blocks 1 and 2 of the Mihama nuclear power plant and the Ikata nuclear power plant , Block 1 of the Tsuruga nuclear power plant , Block 1 of the Shimane nuclear power plant and Units 1 and 2 of the Oi nuclear power plant , mainly for economic reasons Reasons to shut down definitely.

In March 2017, the share of nuclear power in the Japanese electricity mix was only 1 percent, two of the 54 reactors were connected to the grid; At the beginning of 2018 there were five. Even if the government wants to continue to hold on to nuclear power and want to restart some more reactors, the affected regions were able to defend themselves, some successfully.

In September 2019, the new Japanese Environment Minister Shinjirō Koizumi announced surprisingly that his ministry would work towards the closure of nuclear power plants . The announcement came as a surprise insofar as the liberal democratic government of Japan has always clearly supported nuclear energy .

Anti-nuclear movement in Japan

Before the first nuclear reactor was put back into operation after the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011 in summer 2012, there were mass protests with up to 75,000 participants in Tokyo and numerous other protests across the country.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Nuclear Power in Japan. World Nuclear Association (WNA), accessed January 1, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Japan's Nuclear Fuel Cycle. WNA, accessed January 1, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Japan's head of government goes on anti-nuclear course . In: FAZ. July 13, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
  4. ↑ tagesschau.de ( Memento from February 23, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ↑ Prime Minister Noda introduces the cabinet. Japan should phase out nuclear power in the medium term . In: FAZ. September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  6. ↑ Construction of new nuclear power plants unlikely . In: Focus-Online. September 2, 2011. Retrieved September 2, 2011.
  7. ↑ A people save electricity
  8. ↑ four reactors were destroyed in the Fukushima disaster; the other two were given up
  9. ^ Table of the CNIC
  10. ↑ Nuclear Power Plants Operational Status (as of February 20, 2012) CNIC.jp
  11. ↑ Many reactors off the grid, many questions unanswered . In: FAZ , December 6, 2011. Accessed December 6, 2011.
  12. ↑ a b c d Matthias Beermann, Helmut Michelis: Japan's atomic withdrawal . In: Rheinische Post. March 28, 2012, page A2
  13. ↑ table (as of February 20, 2012)
  14. ↑ Last reactor from the network. Japan is turning off nuclear power . ( Memento from May 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) In: Financial Times Deutschland . May 5, 2012. Retrieved May 5, 2012.
  15. ↑ www.greenpeace-magazin.de
  16. ↑ Because of the reactor accident in Fukushima: Japan announces nuclear phase-out by 2040 at focus.de, September 14, 2012 (accessed on September 14, 2012).
  17. ↑ Energy transition: Japan restricts nuclear phase-out again at zeit.de, September 19, 2012 (accessed on September 20, 2012).
  18. ↑ spiegel.de April 22, 2015
  19. ↑ Justin McKeating, Greenpeace: Japan is nuclear-free once more , September 15, 2013.
  20. ↑ Spiegel online: http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/atomkraft-japan-faehrt-erstmals-wieder-reaktor-hoch-a-1047436.html
  21. ↑ http://www.dw.com/de/fukushima-atomkraft-ade/g-37863440
  22. ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/international/neuer-japanischer-umweltminister-koizumi-will-ausstieg-aus-atomkraft-ld.1508152
  23. ^ Mure Dickie: Japanese anti-nuclear demonstrations grow. In: washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post , July 16, 2012, accessed December 17, 2019 .