COMMENTARY: New rules will push phaseout of nuclear power

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The government announced on Jan. 6 that it plans to set a legal limit of 40 years on the operating life of nuclear reactors.

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By HIDENORI TSUBOYA / Staff Writer
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COMMENTARY: New rules will push phaseout of nuclear power
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The government announced on Jan. 6 that it plans to set a legal limit of 40 years on the operating life of nuclear reactors.

The decision is part of the government’s new priority on ensuring the safety of nuclear plants following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

In practice, it is expected to accelerate the phasing out of nuclear power generation in Japan because it is virtually impossible to build new nuclear reactors in the current political climate.

The utilities argue that the lives of nuclear reactors do not have to be limited because most of their components are replaceable. The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has been allowing nuclear reactors to operate for over 40 years on that theory.

The latest policy represents the abandonment of that idea. The new line of thinking, indicated by Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda at his inaugural news conference in September, is that nuclear reactors that have outlived their life spans should be immediately decommissioned.

The government had not clearly stated the life spans of nuclear reactors before because opposition from local inhabitants made it difficult to build replacement reactors at new locations. Keeping existing nuclear reactors in operation for prolonged periods also has the advantage of keeping down the cost of power generation.

The amendment to the law being considered will include an exemption provision allowing a reactor to be operated beyond the 40-year limit if an exception is requested by the operating utility and authorized by the government following a screening process. However, Goshi Hosono, the state minister in charge of handling the Fukushima nuclear accident, told a news conference on Jan. 6 that authorization should be granted only in extremely rare cases.

If the 40-year life span is implemented rigorously, 18 of the 54 reactors in operation before the March 11 disaster will be taken out of service by the end of 2020. Another 18 will face decommissioning by the end of 2030.

The latest plan to tighten regulation on nuclear power will not only serve the basic purpose of protecting people and the environment from radiation, but could also be a landmark in the development of new sources of energy to replace nuclear power and the realization of an energy-saving society.

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