Japan Green Signal to Reopen 2 Nuclear Reactors
Despite all the protests going on in the country, Japan has decided to reinstate two of their nuclear reactors at Ohi for compensating the power grid. The government remains adamant about their decision as they strongly believe that the need of the many outway the needs of the few. Power is one major factor the country needs and the most suitable way was to restart these reactors.
Triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami, there occured the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant some time back. Due to this incident, Japan’s 50 reactors were closed down for routine maintenance.
Thousands of residents within a 12-mile radius were forced to evacuate. Prime Minister Noda made the current announcement after meeting the governor of Fukui prefecture, Kazumasa Nishikawa, who gave his approval nod.
The plant, destined to be restarted, is a major source of electricity for the Osaka area, the country’s second largest industrial region.
It is expected to take about six weeks to fully power up the two reactors, each capable of generating about 1,200 megawatts of electricity. Nuclear power used to provide one third of Japan’s electricity earlier. Now there is no other sustainable way to compensate for this power other than restarting the reactors. The government has asked households and businesses in parts of the country to cut electricity usage by 15% to avoid possible blackouts.
The government will be focusing on the remaining 48 reactors in coming days. Officials will likely postpone any decision until a new, more independent nuclear regulatory agency is created, to replace the old one.
The Japanese Parliament is expected to pass a Bill calling for such a change in under a week. The Japan branch of the environmental group Greenpeace is carrying out protests against the government’s decision, saying approval to restart the reactors ignores expert safety advice and public outcry and needlessly risks the health of Japan’s environment, its people and its economy.
No one can provide a mutual verdict on that, unless there exists any other sustainable power generation method that’s feasible enough.
