Tue Dec 25, 2012, 08:30 PM

wtmusic (37,744 posts)

Japan’s new government expected to bring back nuclear

"Could Japan’s election last weekend of a new government help revitalize the outlook for nuclear power in the country that has all but shut it down?

Japan’s Kyodo News thinks so.

In a story published by The Mainichi newspaper, the news service notes that the incoming Liberal Democratic Party under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will reverse the outgoing government’s intention to abandon nuclear by 2040."

http://www.the-weinberg-foundation.org/2012/12/19/japans-new-government-expected-to-bring-back-nuclear/

6 replies, 524 views

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6 replies	Author	Time	Post
Japan’s new government expected to bring back nuclear (Original post)	wtmusic	Dec 2012	OP
What they should bring with it	Exen Trik	Dec 2012	#1
Just when you think things are sane, along comes a Japanese Romney.	Gregorian	Dec 2012	#2
Maybe their carbon output will go back down to where it was	wtmusic	Dec 2012	#3
CO2 is a problem, but it's the fiscal woes that are pushing this step	Yo_Mama	Dec 2012	#4
wow, that took all of a year for the nuke industry to get back their political power. I guess	wordpix	Dec 2012	#5
"I guess nuke meltdowns don't mean a thing."	Nihil	Jan 2013	#6

Response to wtmusic (Original post)

Tue Dec 25, 2012, 08:42 PM

Exen Trik (98 posts)

1. What they should bring with it

Is safety, responsibility, regulation and transparency.

I can dream, right?

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Response to wtmusic (Original post)

Tue Dec 25, 2012, 08:50 PM

Gregorian (19,610 posts)

2. Just when you think things are sane, along comes a Japanese Romney.

Fuck, I want off this planet. It's like two steps forward, two steps back.

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Response to Gregorian (Reply #2)

Tue Dec 25, 2012, 09:10 PM

wtmusic (37,744 posts)

3. Maybe their carbon output will go back down to where it was

before Fukushima.

Is that a step backward?

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Response to wtmusic (Reply #3)

Wed Dec 26, 2012, 08:05 PM

Yo_Mama (3,675 posts)

4. CO2 is a problem, but it's the fiscal woes that are pushing this step

It's unclear whether it will work or not - the population is still opposed.

Japan could run up its huge public debt because their balance of trade surplus supported it. Now that the balance of trade has shifted negative, they are in dire fiscal straits.

Abe's program is to drive down the yen, helping exporters, to halt the rise in sales tax next year if the economy can't support it, and somehow to prevent slamming into a fiscal crisis. There doesn't seem any way for Japan to come back to a trade balance if they have to keep importing fossil fuels, so....

But it's interesting that bondholders of utility companies don't seem to believe that it's necessarily going to fly. It may be that the shareholders themselves aren't too happy at the prospect.

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Response to wtmusic (Original post)

Thu Dec 27, 2012, 09:24 AM

wordpix (12,478 posts)

5. wow, that took all of a year for the nuke industry to get back their political power. I guess

nuke meltdowns don't mean a thing.

Just have to wonder how much bribery is going on or maybe like here, legalized campaign donation bribery

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Response to wordpix (Reply #5)

Wed Jan 2, 2013, 08:32 AM

Nihil (11,241 posts)

6. "I guess nuke meltdowns don't mean a thing."

Maybe they totted up the number of deaths from the ""nuke meltdowns" and realised
how downright trivial that number was compared to the number who died from fossil
fuel pollution over the same time period?

Not denying that there will be tons of bribery going on - as you say, same as for the
US (or UK) political environment - but, in this particular case, the lack of support
for the "OMG EVERYONES GONNA DIE FROM TEH NUKES!!!" side of the debate
isn't helping anyone ...

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