Editorial | Restore confidence in nuclear power

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is going all-out to restore confidence in nuclear power. With Tokyo hosting the Olympic Games next year, he is eager to prove that there are no longer risks posed by the plant in Fukushima that had three meltdowns when an earthquake and tsunami struck eight years ago. He cut an assured image in a suit during a recent visit to the plant, a contrast to his last trip in 2014 when he wore protective head-to-toe clothing to guard against radiation. But even with some evacuees finally returning, decommissioning work under way and the announcement that the Olympic torch relay will begin from a nearby soccer field, many people in the country and elsewhere still do not trust electricity produced in such a way, threatening global efforts by governments to attain climate change targets.

Before the disaster, the government wanted 50 per cent of electricity produced by nuclear power by 2030. In the wake of the meltdowns, the first in the world since the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine in 1986, all Japanese reactors were ordered closed and there was a ripple effect elsewhere. Global safety checks were ordered and improved procedures put in place, but only in China, India and Russia has there been a significant surge in construction of new plants. Although the Japanese ban has now been lifted, barely a dozen of the country’s 54 reactors are again operating with each restart being met with debate and lawsuits.

There is no more reliable and clean fuel than nuclear, but the majority of Japanese are now opposed to its use, preferring even polluting coal. About 40,000 people from towns near the affected plant in Fukushima still live in temporary housing and it is uncertain when they can return. Many do not want to go back even after evacuation orders have been lifted out of concern for safety.

Solar and wind energy are unreliable, but conventional nuclear has its problems through radioactive waste, high costs and the risks of meltdown. China and Russia have developed new types of reactors that are safer and there are dozens of other advanced nuclear projects under way elsewhere. Governments have to give full support to such efforts and do their best to restore lost confidence.