16 March, 2020
Keidanren Chairman Nakanishi Emphasizes Need for Nuclear Discussions from a Broad Energy Point of View
At a regular press briefing on March 9, Chairman Hiroaki Nakanishi of the Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) emphasized the need to consider nuclear technology from a broad point of view, saying, “Energy is essential for the survival and prosperity of humanity. Now that climate change problems are becoming very serious, we will have to discuss again our use of nuclear energy.”
He was replying to a question about prospects for restarting nuclear power plants (NPPs) in eastern Japan, specifically in the context of the Onagawa-2, owned and operated by the Tohoku Electric Power Co.. The plant cleared its examination for compatibility with the new regulatory standards on February 26, receiving permission to make changes in the reactor installation (basic design approval). On restarting NPPs, however, the chairman said that it was becoming “very difficult” to obtain the understanding of local municipalities.
Chairman Nakanishi serves as a member of the Council on Investments for the Future, which helps shape the Japanese government’s growth strategy. At a meeting of the council on March 5, he expressed his opinion that “long-term, global issues on energy and Japan’...more
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30 September, 2019
MEXT Minister Shares His Hopes with the Press, Seeking to Secure Human Resources Together with Universities
On September 25, Koichi Hagiuda, head of Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)—who joined the Cabinet for the first time in Prime Minister Abe’s September 11 reshuffle—held a press conference, at which he expressed his hopes and expectations (photo).
Asked about the development of nuclear-energy human resources within the context of national science and technology policy, he first referred to the positioning of nuclear energy in Japan’s fifth Strategic Energy Plan, saying, “Nuclear power is an important base-load power source . . . contributing to the stability of the energy supply-demand structure in the long term, on the major premise of ensuring of its safety.”
Hagiuda then demonstrated his attitude of wanting to strive to ensure nuclear human resources, saying, “Japan can consider safer uses of nuclear energy all the more because of the nuclear accident that occurred here.” To combat young people’s loss of interest in studying nuclear energy, he added that the country wanted to work with people engaged in the field of education ...more
