JAPAN ATOMIC INDUSTRIAL FORUM, INC.

15 April, 2019

Keidanren Promotes Nuclear Power and Renewable Energies in Electric Power Policy Proposal

On April 8, the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren) released a proposal on electric power policy. It proposes fostering an environment leading to a “virtuous circle” of investments in electric power for Japan to adhere to the “3E’s+S” principle of its energy policy, referring to the conventional three E’s of energy security, economy, and environmental protection, along with safety, while simultaneously responding to the demands of the “3D’s” of decarbonization, distribution and digitalization, a direction toward which the global electricity business is clearly heading.

Put differently, it is particularly essential to create and develop a market environment promoting investments for nuclear power and renewable energies—given the desirability of their increased use—although the ratios of their fixed costs are high. Nor can adequate investment returns be expected in a wholesale power trading market where prices are determined on the basis of variable costs. This is Keidanren’s first proposal on power policy since Chairman and CEO Hiroaki Nakanishi of Hitachi, Ltd. assumed its leadership in May of last year. At a press conference in the afternoon of April 8, Nakanishi stressed the need to take swift action to establish a mechanism to spark investments in electric power. Keidanren will boost its approaches to related parties based on the proposal. In it...more

15 April, 2019

Okuma Town Becomes First Nuclear Hosting Municipality to Have Evacuation Orders Partially Lifted

On April 10, the Japanese government lifted evacuation orders for the Okawara and Nakayashiki Districts of Okuma Town (Fukushima Prefecture), issued after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident of March 11, 2011. It was the first time an order was lifted for either of the two municipalities hosting the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant(NPP): Okuma and Futaba Towns.

The Okawara District of Okuma Town had been designated an area where “living is not permitted,” while Nakayashiki District was designated an area where “an evacuation order will soon be lifted.” Together, the two account for approximately 38 percent of the combined area of the two towns (approximately 79 square kilometers). Only 367 people (138 households), some 3.5 percent of the combined town populations of 10,341, were registered as residents as of the end of March. A new town office constructed in the Okawara District had its opening ceremony on April 14, and is slated to begin operations on May 7 (after the ten-day Golden Week holiday period), with a staff of one hundred persons. The available housing for staff members, however, is limited to just twenty-six units, so most wi...more