Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 July 27 - August 2 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Interim report on national energy policy shows gov’t’s reluctance to shift from N-energy

The Cabinet’s Council on Energy and Environment on July 29 released an interim report on the revision of the national energy policy.

As principles for revising the national energy policy, the interim report lists 9 items, including lowering dependence on nuclear energy. However, rather than proposing concrete measures to achieve this, it only states that the government will spend three years in “meaningful” discussions on how to reduce dependence on nuclear energy.

Although the report presents a timetable divided into short-, medium-, and long-term goals by 2050 in order to give shape to the listed 9 items, it fails to set any numerical goal.

On the same day, the Council also released measures for a stable power supply. The Council estimates that if no off-line nuclear power plants resume operations, utilities’ cost for power production will increase by 20% from the present level.

By suggesting that the government restart suspended nuclear power stations after confirming their safety, the Council still shows its firm adherence to nuclear energy promotion.