Since May 5, Japan has no nuclear power. But this is not a definitive decision, at least for now. 70% of the Japanese is favorable to definitively leave nuclear power, but the government and the nuclear lobby are determined to restart nuclear reactors at the earliest. For neither of the parties in conflict will not be easy to achieve the objectives.
Tokyo, May 5, 2012. A koinobori welcoming the shut down of the last reactor in Japan. Source: AFP via The Hindu.
Japan moved closer to restarting the first of the nation’s idled nuclear plants as the prime minister signaled that he might order a start-up as early as next week and as a new round of scrambling to persuade local leaders to drop their opposition appeared to be working.
Martin Fackler, The New York Times, May 31, 2012.
Following Fukushima’s nuclear disaster, Japanese citizens have been especially wary of radiation exposure. SoftBank on Tuesday revealed a new smartphone to answer such concerns. The company’s Pantone 5 107SH is the world’s first phone with a built-in geiger counter, capable of measuring radiation levels within 20 percent accuracy.
Alexandra Chang, Wired, May 29, 2012.
Scientists amazed that bluefins swimming in Pacific five months after Japanese disaster contained tiny amounts of caesium.
Justin McCurry, The Guardian, May 29, 2012.
In an unusually stark warning, Japan’s prime minister during last year’s nuclear crisis told a parliamentary inquiry on Monday that the country should discard nuclear power as too dangerous, saying the Fukushima accident had pushed Japan to the brink of “national collapse.”
Martin Fackler, The New York Times, May 28, 2012.
Mountains of rubble stand in the way of decommissioning the No. 4 reactor of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, part of an unprecedented challenge facing Japan to decommission four crippled reactors.
The Asahi Japan Watch, May 28, 2012.
What passes for normal at the Fukushima Daiichi plant today would have caused shudders among even the most sanguine of experts before an earthquake and tsunami set off the world’s second most serious nuclear crisis after Chernobyl.
Hiroko Tabuchi and Mattew L. Wald, The New York Times, May 26, 2012.
A Japan Atomic Energy Commission panel revised its draft policy evaluations to favor nuclear fuel recycling after closed-door consultations with pro-nuclear officials from the industry, sources said.
The Asahi Japan Watch, May 24, 2012.
The amount of radioactive materials released in the first days of the Fukushima nuclear disaster was almost two and a half times the initial estimate by Japanese safety regulators, the operator of the crippled plant said in a report.
Reuters, The New York Times, May 24, 2012.
Local assemblies near Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, have issued resolutions and opinions in the past year calling for the “permanent shutdown” or “decommissioning of reactors” at Chubu Electric Power Co.’s Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station.
Kyodo, The Japan Times, May 23, 2012.
Japan agrees to 1tn yen injection for Tepco, hit by compensation claims and decontamination costs after nuclear plant’s meltdown.
Justin McCurry, The Guardian, May 9, 2012.
Japan’s last operating reactor was taken offline Saturday, as public distrust created by last year’s nuclear disaster forced the nation to at least temporarily do without atomic power for the first time in 42 years.
Martin Fackler and Hiroko Tabuchi, Last Reactor of 50 in Japan Is Shut Down. The New York Times, May 5, 2012.
Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation’s 54 nuclear reactors Saturday, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.
Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press, May 05, 2012.
Japan has 54 nuclear reactors, but as of Saturday, not one of them will be in operation – how will the country cope?
Justin McCurry, The Guardian, May 3, 2012.
See also the news archive for 2012 and 2011.
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