Japan restarts world's largest nuclear plant as Fukushima memories loom large

[Wicked Blue]

Source: BBC

Japan has restarted operations at the world's largest nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 Fukushima disaster forced the country to shut all of its reactors.

The decision to restart reactor number 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa north-west of Tokyo was taken despite local residents' safety concerns.

It was delayed by a day because of an alarm malfunction and is due to begin operating commercially next month.

Heavily reliant on energy imports, Japan was an early adopter of nuclear power. But in 2011 all 54 of Japan's reactors had to be shut after the most powerful earthquake it had ever recorded triggered a meltdown at Fukushima, causing one of the worst nuclear disasters in history.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq6v0v32rg1o

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Uh-oh

[hunter]

1. Nuclear power is the only energy resource capable of displacing fossil fuels entirely.

The carbon intensity of Japan's electric grid this past year is fairly dismal at

463g CO₂eq/kWh.

Compare this to nuclear powered France at

56g CO₂eq/kWh.

(High numbers are bad.)

Without nuclear power Japan is dependent on filthy imported natural gas and coal.

Solar, wind, and other non-nuclear "green" energy resources alone are not capable of supporting earth's current human population of 8 billion.

https://app.electricitymaps.com/map/zone/JP/12mo/monthly

[Polybius]

2. For now

Nuclear fusion will be vastly superior with no hazards, if it ever gets here.