Japan reverses nuclear phaseout plan adopted after Fukushima

What’s in today’s article?

• Nuclear Power in India – About, nuclear energy generation in India
• News Summary

Why in News?

• Recently, Japan adopted a new policy promoting greater use of nuclear energy to ensure a stable power supply amid global fuel shortages and to reduce carbon emissions.
• This is a major reversal of its phase-out plan following the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
  • It was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan.
  • Following a major earthquake, a 15-metre tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a nuclear accident beginning on 11 March 2011.

About Nuclear Power in India

• Nuclear power is a clean and environment friendly base load source of electricity generation, which is available 24X7.
• It also has a huge potential and can provide the country long term energy security in a sustainable manner.
• Keeping these in mind, India has a largely indigenous nuclear power programme.

‹ ›

What is the nuclear energy generation capacity of India?

• India currently operates 22 nuclear reactors, with a total capacity of more than 6.7GW.
  • Besides these 22 reactors, the Indian government is currently building 8 reactors with 3 proposed (total 11), with a total capacity of 8.7GW.
  • The public sector entity, Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL), is responsible for designing, building, commissioning and operating nuclear power reactors in the country.
    • NPCIL operates under the Indian government’s Department of Atomic Energy (DAE).
• In 2021, about 3.2 percent of the domestic production of electricity in India was derived from nuclear energy.
  • Following thermal, hydroelectric and renewable sources and gas, nuclear is the fifth-largest production source of electricity in India.
• India has planned to increase the nuclear power capacity to 22,480 MW by 2031.

Image Caption: Location of nuclear plants in India

News Summary

• Japan adopted a plan to extend the lifespan of nuclear reactors, replace the old and even build new ones.
• The new policy says Japan must maximise the use of existing nuclear reactors:
  • by restarting as many of them as possible and prolonging the operating life of old reactors beyond their 60-year limit, and
  • by developing next-generation reactors to replace them.
• This is a major shift in a country scarred by the Fukushima disaster that once planned to phase out atomic power.

Why Japan is reversing its nuclear phaseout plan?

• The Fukushima disaster supercharged anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan and at one point led the government to promise to phase out the energy by around 2030.
• But since then, the government has recommitted to the technology, including setting a target for nuclear to make up 20-22% of the country’s energy mix by the end of the decade.
  • At present, nuclear energy accounts for less than 7% of Japan’s energy supply.
• In the face of global fuel shortages, rising prices and pressure to reduce carbon emissions, Japan’s leaders have begun to turn back toward nuclear energy.
  • Japan seeks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

Q1) What is nuclear energy?

Nuclear energy is a form of energy released from the nucleus, the core of atoms, made up of protons and neutrons. This source of energy can be produced in two ways: fission – when nuclei of atoms split into several parts – or fusion – when nuclei fuse together.

Q2) What is the fuel for nuclear energy?

Uranium is the most widely used fuel by nuclear power plants for nuclear fission. Nuclear power plants use a certain type of uranium—U-235—as fuel because its atoms are easily split apart.

Source: Japan reverses nuclear phaseout plan adopted after Fukushima