Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan says the ruling Democratic Party of Japan should create a road map on abandoning nuclear energy and use the plan as a plank in the next Lower House election.
Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan says the ruling Democratic Party of Japan should create a road map on abandoning nuclear energy and use the plan as a plank in the next Lower House election.Kan last year called on Japan to reduce its dependence on nuclear energy after the accident started March 11 at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. But the administration of his successor, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, is seeking to restart reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture because of concerns about a possible electricity shortage during the peak demand season of summer.In an interview with the Shukan Asahi weekly magazine, Kan outlined what the DPJ should do and mentioned the various hurdles that exist in moving the nation away from nuclear energy.Excerpts of the interview follow:* * *While I was prime minister, I proposed the retraction of the basic energy plan, which called for increasing dependence on nuclear energy to 53 percent. Last August, the Diet passed a bill to create a system for the purchase by electric power companies at fixed prices of electricity generated by renewable energy sources. Those actions set the course for a move away from nuclear energy.We created the group to present a specific road map for moving away from nuclear energy rather than simply talking about such an idea.I said: "It is wrong to have only NISA make the decision. Have you sounded out the views of the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSC)?"Kaieda and industry ministry officials said, "Under the law, it is NISA that decides whether operations should resume."I put a stop to simply following laws as in the past and said: "Isn't something wrong with that? NISA bears major responsibility for not being able to stop the nuclear accident (at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant). Do you think the public will be convinced if that agency decided to resume operations?"As a result, we decided on stricter rules for resuming operations that involved implementing stress tests; having the NSC also involved in the decision; and having the prime minister and three relevant Cabinet ministers make the final decision after hearing the overall view of the local community.While the Noda administration has continued with procedures to resume operations while fundamentally following those rules, the contents of the discussions have been ambiguous and insufficient.NSC Chairman (Haruki) Madarame said, "Using only the preliminary stress test evaluation will be insufficient."If he thought it was insufficient, he should have said what had to be done, but he became ambiguous, saying, "While it is insufficient, the final decision will be left up to the central government."It is still unclear if the NSC has given its approval for resuming operations at the Oi plant.Another ambiguity concerns the views of electric power companies, which are arguing that there will be an electricity shortage.After 3/11, companies have made various efforts, such as operating their own generators and implementing energy conservation measures.It is extremely unclear if there will really be a shortage of electricity despite such efforts or if the suppliers are simply using data from the extremely hot summers before last year's natural disasters in backing up their argument for an electricity shortage.When I was prime minister, industry ministry officials did not present the data needed to make a conclusion on this question. I am concerned that those bureaucrats are using the same tactics this time.From a long-term perspective, if an accident occurred, the companies would face a terrible situation, including what to do about compensation.However, it also appears that the banking groups that have made loans to electric power companies want to speed up the resumption of operations from a short-term perspective because they are more concerned for the time being about collecting back their funds.However, I believe Edano has not changed his intention to eventually move away from a dependence on nuclear energy since he has said in the Diet, "I want to eventually have no nuclear plants in operation."At the same time, I feel he is also concerned about what would happen if there was a power shortage because he is being influenced too much by industry ministry officials and by companies that are worried about an electricity shortage.However, looking at the way the arguments are proceeding, I am worried that they will be misunderstood.The key point should be a discussion on the supply and demand for electricity, which means whether there will be enough electricity or not.Having served as prime minister, I know that the central government can never say, "We do not care if there is insufficient electricity."There will be a need to determine if there really will be an electricity shortage or if there are measures that could be implemented.I have pointed out that such discussions have been insufficient.Although there will likely be a major increase in new investments for wind and solar power when July comes around, it will still take a considerable amount of time before there is an actual increase in power generation.In the short term, the only way to overcome the problems is to reduce peak electricity demand and use more energy conservation measures. All companies and individuals are taking various conservation measures.After last year's disasters, in an attempt to gain the cooperation of companies and the public for energy conservation, I gave instructions to distribute subsidies to local governments so that smart meters (which inform users in real time of the volume of electricity used and the electricity cost) could be installed in all households.However, I was told that it would be impossible to immediately install such meters because the nine electric power companies each had their own subcontractors so the specifications for the meters were different among the electric power companies.If that is the case, consideration should be given to spreading the installation of storage batteries in households.I feel the discussions related to resumption of operations at the Oi plant were distorted because there was no mention of such alternatives.Was the decision to resume operations made in the process of reaching the peak of what could be considered Mount Fuji in terms of moving away from nuclear energy? Or does it mean that the government is returning to its old nuclear energy stance by retreating, as it were, to Lake Kawaguchiko at the foot of Mount Fuji?I believe that is the reason behind the distrust felt by the public.Rather than move straight away to stopping all reactors, Germany has also said that it will make room for exceptions when an oil crisis arises and continue operating nuclear plants.Japan has followed the opposite course as Germany.After the natural disasters, we intentionally stopped operations at the Hamaoka plant and we also implemented stricter rules for resuming operations after periodic inspections. That has meant that now 53 (of all 54) reactors are offline.Viewed objectively, Japan has made more progress over the past year to move away from nuclear energy.However, because the decision to resume operations was made while the ultimate direction was left ambiguous, discussions on the two issues--moving away from nuclear energy and resuming operations--were mixed up.At the same time, it is true that there are elements that want to take the move away from nuclear energy back to square one.The industry ministry has a panel to examine fundamental issues under the comprehensive natural resources and energy research committee. Among the 25 members are some who hold similar views to members of our group. At the same time, there are other members who are calling for nuclear power to maintain a 35 percent share of all power generation in 2030 and arguing for the construction of new reactors.There will be a need for the central government to be careful about what intentions are held in comments made to grasp the "invisible arbitrary intentions."However, that plan had to be aborted when I said, "While it is all right to stop operations at the Hamaoka plant, it will not be right to resume operations at other plants only with the approval of NISA, but stress tests should also be implemented."Bureaucrats are always acting while thinking about what would help the interests of their ministry.In the industry ministry, there are some bureaucrats who favor promoting renewable energy sources, but they have not yet reached the point of agreeing to stop nuclear plant operations.For those reasons, there are some in the ministry who want to use the resumption of Oi plant operations as a lever to do away with the proposal to move away from nuclear energy.However, the government and ruling party cannot make such excuses. That is why it is facing such difficulties.We stopped operations at Hamaoka not based on a precondition that all reactors would halt operations, but it was an emergency measure to stop operations based on data presented by the science ministry that showed a high danger from earthquakes.If the central government is to make a decision to move away from nuclear energy, that would be a very important decision, so there would be a need to present such a proposal to the public and have them make a judgment.European nations held referendums, but because Japan does not have a law for referendums, it will have to take the form of a national election.They may be remaining silent while snickering at the criticism that the DPJ is facing.In its policy package released recently, the LDP said it would continue discussions on nuclear energy for 10 years and then reach a conclusion.That is why I believe the DPJ must put together a road map in time for the next Lower House election so that we can ask voters to make a choice between the two parties.