Japan plans carbon emission cuts, more nuclear energy

Land of the rising sun nation Japan is calling for further efforts to cut carbon emissions by promoting renewables but also nuclear energy despite the 2011 Fukushima reactors meltdowns.The energy white paper, adopted by the Cabinet Friday, says Japan faces an “urgent task” of reducing carbon emissions coming from utilities that have relied heavily on fossil fuels to make up for shortages of cleaner nuclear energy. The call comes as the Fukushima nuclear reactors are slowly being restarted amid lingering anti-nuclear sentiments since the 2011 crisis.Japan wants further development of renewable energy and has set a 22% to 24% target while maintaining nuclear energy at around the same level. It also pledges to reduce carbon emissions by 26% from 2013 levels by 2030. So far it has so far achieved a 7% reduction.While the renewables account for 16% of Japan’s energy supply, nuclear energy remained at just 3% in 2017, compared to the target of 20% to 22%, according to the paper. Coal and natural gas accounted for 74%.Before the 2011 quake and tsunami that destroyed the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s cooling systems and sent three of its reactors into meltdowns, nuclear energy made up about one-third of Japan’s energy supply.Despite the government’s nuclear energy ambitions, reactor restarts are coming slowly as nuclear regulators spend more time on inspections under stricter post-Fukushima standards, while utility companies have opted to scrap aged reactors instead of investing in additional safety measures.The slow reactor resumptions have added to Japan’s large plutonium stockpile problem that has become an issue of international concern. Japan, which is stuck with 47 tons of plutonium stockpile from spent fuel, has resorted to burning it in conventional reactors to reduce the amount after the country’s fuel recycling program has stalled.But the amount is not decreasing, and experts are now calling for more drastic steps to get rid of it amid criticism that Japan’s plutonium makes Tokyo’s calls for nuclear non-proliferation less credible. About 37 tons of spent fuel is kept in France and Britain where it has been reprocessed since Japan lacks the capability to do it at home.