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Japan must consider building new nuclear reactors to meet the government’s lofty goal of going carbon-neutral by 2050, according to the nation’s former economy and energy minister.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s net-zero emissions pledge announced Monday is “very ambitious” and presents a number of difficulties, said Hiroshige Seko, broadcaster NHK reported. Seko led Japan’s influential Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry until 2019.
“Nuclear power is a large source of energy that doesn’t emit CO2,” said Seko, who currently serves as Upper House secretary-general for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. “It is important to consider building new nuclear reactors on top of safely restarting the existing ones.”
Seko’s remarks come after current METI minister, Hiroshi Kajiyama, said on Monday construction of new nuclear plants aren’t under consideration to help meet the country’s climate targets because public trust after the 2011 Fukushima atomic disaster has yet to be restored.
Japan has only restarted nine of its 33 operable nuclear reactors under post-Fukushima safety rules amid fierce local opposition and court battles. The world’s fifth biggest greenhouse gas emitter remains deeply reliant on coal and gas for power generation.
However, there are newer nuclear technologies and approaches such as small modular reactors or offshore plants that could assuage public concern over operational safety, according to Jane Nakano, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“Nuclear remains sensitive in Japan,” she said last week. But it “merits a serious revisit.”
