Japan has announced its new Basic Energy Plan. It’s something they revise every three years and is used to set energy policy for the next twenty years. Here’s what the lead article of The Japan Times had to say:
“The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday officially abandoned the zero-nuclear goal of the previous administration by adopting a new basic energy policy that pledges to push for restarting the reactors idled in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns.”
To be honest, I don’t see this as a revelation for anyone watching the news coming out of Japan over the last few months. It’s clear that the country will begin restarting its fleet of reactors this year. However, for those who aren’t familiar with the fundamentals of Japan’s situation, here are some useful takeaways from the article:
Japan’s dependency on fossil fuels has increased to about 90 percent from the pre-(Fukushima) disaster level of 60 percent as far as electricity is concerned
The cost of imported fuel has increased by ¥3.6 trillion a year from pre-Fukushima levels.
The government emphasizes Japan’s heavy dependence on fossil fuels imported from the Middle East, arguing “securing stable energy is indispensable for national security.”
Anti-nuclear parties and candidates in Japan have performed poorly in recent major elections, including the 2012 Lower House election, the 2013 Upper House poll and the 2014 Tokyo gubernatorial race.
Of course, the question of ‘when’ the restarts will begin has not yet been answered, though over the last few weeks I’ve seen estimates ranging from May through to September. The Japan Times notes that Japan’s nuclear regulator (NRA) is conducting tests on two reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant and cites August as a possible restart date.
Japanese restarts will be good for the nuclear sector, and thus the uranium market, on several levels but for me, I actually think what’s going on with uranium supply is just as interesting. If you’ve not done so already, check out this guest blog post by Anthony Mileski – one of Fission Uranium’s Advisors. He’s well-connected with utilities and producers and has some interesting things to say on the vulnerability of worldwide uranium supply.
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Dev Randhawa
