Nuclear power generated 5.55% of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

's electricity in 2023. The country's nuclear power industry was heavily influenced by the Fukushima accident, caused by the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a 9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...

. Before 2011, Japan was generating up to 30% of its electrical power from nuclear reactors. After the Fukushima accident, all reactors were shut down temporarily. , of the 54 nuclear reactors present in Japan before 2011, there were 33 operable reactors but only 13 reactors in 6 power plants were actually operating. A total of 24 reactors are scheduled for decommissioning or are in the process of being decommissioned. Others are in the process of being reactivated, or are undergoing modifications aimed to improve resiliency against natural disasters; Japan's 2030 energy goals posit that at least 33 will be reactivated by a later date. The Fukushima accident hardened attitudes toward nuclear power. In June 2011, immediately after the accident, more than 80% of Japanese said they were

anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

and distrusted government information on

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

, but ten years later, in March 2021, only 11 percent of Japanese said they wanted that nuclear energy generation to be discontinued immediately. Another 49 percent were asking for a gradual exit from nuclear energy. In February 2023, a survey by

Asahi Shimbun is a Japanese daily newspaper founded in 1879. It is one of the oldest newspapers in Japan and Asia, and is considered a newspaper of record for Japan. The ''Asahi Shimbun'' is one of the five largest newspapers in Japan along with the ''Yom ...

showed that 51% of participants in Japan favored the restart of nuclear plant operations, with 42% opposed.

History

Early years

After the ''

Atoms for Peace "Atoms for Peace" was the title of a speech delivered by U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower to the UN General Assembly in New York City on December 8, 1953. The United States then launched an "Atoms for Peace" program that supplied equipment ...

'' speech given by then-American President

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

at the UN General Assembly in 1953, a total ban on nuclear research, imposed during the post-war occupation of Japan and continued after Japan regained sovereignty, was lifted. Future Prime Minister

Yasuhiro Nakasone was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan, prime minister of Japan from 1982 to 1987. His political term was best known for pushing through the privatization of state-owned companies and pursuing a hawkish and pro-U.S. fo ...

and his peers from the Kaishintō Party (a forerunner to the

Liberal Democratic Party Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party, Democratic Liberal Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties have usually followed liberalism as ideology, although they can vary widely from very progr ...

) drafted a 235-million-yen budget (the amount symbolically referencing uranium-235), which was approved by the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

. Around the same time, the

Atomic Energy Act of 1954 The Atomic Energy Act of 1954, 42 U.S.C. §§ 2011–2021, 2022-2286i, 2296a-2297h-13, is a United States federal law that covers for the development, regulation, and disposal of nuclear materials and facilities in the United States. It was an ...

was enacted in America, and Japan received condensed uranium from the country in 1955. Two experimental reactors, JRR-1 (built by

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...

's nuclear division) and JRR-2 (largely based on

Chicago Pile-5 Chicago Pile-5 (CP-5) was the last of the line of Chicago Pile research reactors which started with CP-1 in 1942. The first reactor built on the Argonne National Laboratory campus in DuPage county, it operated from 1954-1979.Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

, the first experimental reactor to be fully designed and built in Japan. Also in 1955, Nakasone's group drafted the Atomic Energy Basic Law, which was enacted in Japan to promote nuclear power while limiting activities strictly to peaceful purposes. The

Japanese Atomic Energy Commission The was established in 1956 and serves as the regulatory body for nuclear power in Japan. The Atomic Energy Basic Law contained a provision for its creation, and shortly after the law was enacted, the organization started activities, which are st ...

was established as a regulatory body, with its first chair,

Matsutarō Shōriki was a Japanese media proprietor and politician. He was the owner of the ''Yomiuri Shimbun'', founder of the Yomiuri Giants and the Nippon Television Network Corporation. After a career as a police officer, Shoriki acquired the bankrupt ''Yomiu ...

, a newspaper magnate, also being a key promoter of nuclear power in Japan. A prototype nuclear power station, JPDR, began power generation on 26 October 1963. Japan's first commercial nuclear power plant, the

Tōkai Nuclear Power Plant The was Japan's first commercial nuclear power plant. The first unit was built in the early 1960s to the British Magnox design, and generated power from 1966 until it was decommissioned in 1998. A second unit, nominally a separate power statio ...

, was built using main components imported from the

General Electric Company The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and Arms industry, defence electronics, communications, and engineering. It was originally founded in 1886 as G. Binswanger and Company as an e ...

in the UK and was connected to the grid on 25 July 1966. This reactor remains the only

Magnox Magnox is a type of nuclear power / production reactor that was designed to run on natural uranium with graphite as the moderator and carbon dioxide gas as the heat exchange coolant. It belongs to the wider class of gas-cooled reactors. The ...

reactor ever built on Japanese soil. In 1969, the first

nuclear-powered ship Nuclear marine propulsion is propulsion of a ship or submarine with heat provided by a nuclear reactor. The power plant heats water to produce steam for a turbine used to turn the ship's propeller through a gearbox or through an electric generato ...

in Japan (and the fourth in the world), '' Mutsu'', was launched by

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational engineering, electrical equipment and electronics corporation headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. MHI is one of the core companies of the Mitsubishi Group and its automobile division is the prede ...

(reactor) and IHI (hull).

Light water reactors

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1892, incorporated in the New York (state), state of New York and headquartered in Boston. Over the year ...

offered

light water reactors The light-water reactor (LWR) is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron reacto ...

at a discounted price as soon as Yasuhiro Nakasone, then the Minister of Science and Technology, began revising the country's nuclear power strategy in 1961. This offer was accepted, and Tsuruga-1 was commissioned in March 1970 as Japan's first BWR. GE teamed up with Hitachi and

Toshiba is a Japanese multinational electronics company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo. Its diversified products and services include power, industrial and social infrastructure systems, elevators and escalators, electronic components, semiconductors ...

to build BWRs, while Westinghouse collaborated with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) to promote PWRs. By the late 1970s, these companies began constructing plants independently. All nuclear reactors built in Japan have been either BWRs or PWRs, with Hitachi and Toshiba (which later acquired Westinghouse's nuclear division to build PWRs as well) still responsible for the former and MHI for the latter. Developments in nuclear power since that time have seen contributions from Japanese companies and research institutes on the same level as the other big users of nuclear power. From the early 1970s to the present, the Japanese government promoted the siting of nuclear power plants through a variety of policy instruments involving soft social control and financial incentives.

Later years

Japan's nuclear industry was not hit as hard by the effects of the

Three Mile Island accident The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown of the Unit 2 reactor (TMI-2) of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, located on the Susquehanna River in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Londonderry T ...

(TMI) or the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

as some other countries. Construction of new plants continued to be strong through the 1980s and 1990s. While many new plants had been proposed, all were subsequently canceled or never brought past initial planning. Cancelled plant orders include: * The Hōhoku Nuclear Power Plant at

Hōhoku, Yamaguchi was a town located in Toyoura District, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. As of January 31, 2005, the town had an estimated population of 12,740 and a density of 75.56 persons per km2. The total area is 168.61 km2. On February 13, 2005, Hōhok ...

1994 * The Kushima Nuclear Power Plant at Kushima, Miyazaki1997 * The Ashihama Nuclear Power Plant at Ashihama, Mie2000 (the first Project at the site in the 1970s was completed at Hamaoka as Unit 1&2) * The Maki Nuclear Power Plant at Maki, Niigata (Kambara)Canceled in 2003 * The Suzu Nuclear Power Plant at Suzu, Ishikawa2003 Starting in the mid-1990s there were several nuclear-related accidents and cover-ups in Japan that eroded public perception of the industry, resulting in protests and resistance to new plants. These accidents included the

Tokaimura nuclear accident The Tokaimura nuclear accidents refer to two nuclear related incidents near the village of Tōkai, Ibaraki, Tōkai, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The first accident occurred on 11 March 1997, producing an explosion after an experimental batch of s ...

, the Mihama steam explosion, cover-ups after an accident at the Monju reactor, among others, more recently the Chūetsu offshore earthquake aftermath. While exact details may be in dispute, it is clear that the safety culture in Japan's nuclear industry has come under greater scrutiny. he news fails to note that the Tokaimura accident did not happen in a power plant./ref>

2000s

On 18 April 2007, Japan and the United States signed the

United States-Japan Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan The United States-Japan Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan is a bilateral agreement designed to establish a framework for joint research and development in nuclear energy technology. The agreement was signed on April 18, 2007. Japan also maintain nu ...

, aimed at putting in place a framework for the joint research and development of nuclear energy technology. Each country will conduct research into

fast reactor A fast-neutron reactor (FNR) or fast-spectrum reactor or simply a fast reactor is a category of nuclear reactor in which the fission chain reaction is sustained by fast neutrons (carrying energies above 1 MeV, on average), as opposed to slow t ...

technology, fuel cycle technology, advanced computer simulation and modeling, small and medium reactors, safeguards and physical protection; and

nuclear waste Radioactive waste is a type of hazardous waste that contains radioactive material. It is a result of many activities, including nuclear medicine, nuclear research, nuclear power generation, nuclear decommissioning, rare-earth mining, and nuclear ...

management. In March 2008,

Tokyo Electric Power Company is a Japanese electric utility holding company servicing Japan's Kantō region, Yamanashi Prefecture, and the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture. This area includes Tokyo. Its headquarters are located in Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, an ...

announced that the start of operation of four new nuclear power reactors would be postponed by one year due to the incorporation of new earthquake resistance assessments. Units 7 and 8 of the Fukushima Daiichi plant would now enter commercial operation in October 2014 and October 2015, respectively. Unit 1 of the Higashidori plant is now scheduled to begin operating in December 2015, while unit 2 will start up in 2018 at the earliest. As of September 2008, Japanese ministries and agencies were seeking an increase in the 2009 budget by 6%. The total requested comes to 491.4 billion

Japanese yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the euro. Th ...

(US$4.6 billion), and the focuses of research are the development of the fast breeder reactor cycle, next-generation light water reactors, the

Iter ITER (initially the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, ''iter'' meaning "the way" or "the path" in Latin) is an international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject aimed at creating energy through a fusion process s ...

project, and seismic safety.

Fukushima accident and aftermath

An energy white paper, approved by the Japanese Cabinet in October 2011, says "public confidence in the safety of nuclear power was greatly damaged" by the Fukushima accident in March 2011, and calls for a reduction in the nation's reliance on nuclear power. It also omits a section on nuclear power expansion that was in the previous year's policy review. Nuclear Safety Commission Chairman Haruki Madarame told a parliamentary inquiry in February 2012 that "Japan's atomic safety rules are inferior to global standards and left the country unprepared for the Fukushima nuclear disaster last March". There were flaws in, and lax enforcement of, the safety rules governing Japanese nuclear power companies, and this included insufficient protection against tsunamis. On 6 May 2011, Prime Minister

Naoto Kan is a Japanese former politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) from June 2010 to September 2011. Kan was the first Prime Minister since the resignation of Junichiro Koizumi in 2006 to ...

ordered the

Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant The is a nuclear power plant in the city of Omaezaki in Shizuoka Prefecture, on Japan's east coast, 200 km south-west of Tokyo. It is managed by the Chubu Electric Power Company. There are five units contained at a single site with a net ...

to be shut down as an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher is likely to hit the area within the next thirty years.Story
at

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

News, 6 May 2011. retrieved 8 May 2011Story
at Digital Journal. retrieved 7 May 2011
a
Bloomberg
7 May 2011. retrieved 8 May 2011 As of 27 March 2012, Japan had only one out of 54 nuclear reactors operating; the Tomari-3, after the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 6 was shut down."Soon Japan's nuclear power stands still"
'' NyTeknik'', 27 March 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2012.
English translation
/ref> The Tomari-3 was shut down for maintenance on 5 May, leaving Japan with no nuclear-derived electricity for the first time since 1970, when the country's then-only two reactors were taken offline for five days for maintenance. On 15 June 2012, approval was given to restart Ōi Units 3 and 4 which could take six weeks to bring them to full operation. On 1 July 2012, unit 3 of the Ōi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted. This reactor can provide 1,180 MW of electricity. On 21 July 2012 unit 4 was restarted, also 1,180 MW. The reactor was shut down again on 14 September 2013, again leaving Japan with no operating power reactors. Nuclear power station

Government figures in the 2014 Annual Report on Energy show that Japan depended on imported fossil fuels for 88% of its electricity in fiscal year 2013, compared with 62% in fiscal 2010. Without significant nuclear power, the country was self-sufficient for just 6% of its energy demand in 2012, compared with 20% in 2010. The additional fuel costs to compensate for its nuclear reactors being idled was ¥3.6 trillion. In parallel, domestic energy users have seen a 19.4% increase in their energy bills between 2010 and 2013, while industrial users have seen their costs rise 28.4% over the same period. In 2018 the Japanese government revised its energy plan to update the 2030 target for nuclear energy to 20%-22% of power generation by restarting reactors, compared to LNG 27%, coal 25%, renewables 23% and oil 3%. This would reduce Japan's carbon dioxide emissions by 26% compared to 2013, and increase self-sufficiency to about 24% by 2030, compared to 8% in 2016. Since the Fukushima nuclear accident, Japan has restarted twelve reactors and fifteen more have applied to restart, including two that are under construction. Amid the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Japan's Prime Minister announced the restart of nine units by winter 2022 and seven more by summer 2023.

Investigations on the Fukushima accident

The National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) is the first independent investigation commission by the

National Diet , transcription_name = ''Kokkai'' , legislature = 215th Session of the National Diet , coa_pic = Flag of Japan.svg , house_type = Bicameral , houses = , foundation=29 November 1890(), leader1_type ...

in the 66-year history of Japan's constitutional government. NAICC was established on 8 December 2011 with the mission to investigate the direct and indirect causes of the Fukushima nuclear accident. NAICC submitted its inquiry report to both houses on 5 July 2012. The 10-member commission compiled its report based on more than 1,167 interviews and 900 hours of hearings. It was a six-month independent investigation, the first of its kind with wide-ranging subpoena powers in Japan's constitutional history, which held public hearings with former Prime Minister

and Tokyo Electric Power Co's former president Masataka Shimizu, who gave conflicting accounts of the disaster response. The commission chairman, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, declared with respect to the Fukushima nuclear incident: "It was a profoundly man-made disasterthat could and should have been foreseen and prevented." He added that the "fundamental causes" of the disaster were rooted in "the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture." The report outlines errors and willful negligence at the plant before the

on 11 March 2011 and a flawed response in the hours, days, and weeks that followed. It also offers recommendations and encourages Japan's parliament to "thoroughly debate and deliberate" the suggestions.

Post-Fukushima nuclear policy

Japan's new energy plan, approved by the Liberal Democratic Party cabinet in April 2014, calls nuclear power "the country's most important power source". Reversing a decision by the previous Democratic Party, the government will re-open nuclear plants, aiming for "a realistic and balanced energy structure". In May 2014 the Fukui District Court blocked the restart of the Oi reactors. In April 2015 courts blocked the restarting of two reactors at the

Takahama Nuclear Power Plant The is a nuclear power plant located in the town of Takahama, Ōi District, Fukui Prefecture. It is owned and operated by the Kansai Electric Power Company and is on a site with an area of about 1 km2. The four pressurized water reactors ...

but permitted the restart of two reactors at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. The government hopes that nuclear power will produce 20% of Japan's electricity by 2030. As of June 2015, approval was being sought from the new Nuclear Regulatory Agency for 24 units to restart, of the 54 pre-Fukushima units. The units also have to be approved by the local prefecture authorities before restarting. In July 2015 fuel loading was completed at the Sendai-1 nuclear plant, it restarted 11 August 2015 and was followed by unit 2 on 1 November 2015. Japan's Nuclear Regulatory Authority approved the restart of Ikata-3 which took place on 19 April 2016, this reactor is the fifth to receive approval to restart. The

unit 4 restarted in May 2017 and unit 3 in June 2017. And by 2023, Unit 1 and 2 of Takahama also restarted. In November 2016 Japan signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with India. Japanese nuclear plant builders saw this as potential lifeline given that domestic orders had ended following the Fukushima disaster, and India is proposing to build about 20 new reactors over the next decade. However, there is Japanese domestic opposition to the agreement, as India has not agreed to the

Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is an international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperatio ...

. In 2014, following the failure of the prototype Monju

sodium-cooled fast reactor A sodium-cooled fast reactor is a fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid sodium. The initials SFR in particular refer to two Generation IV reactor proposals, one based on existing liquid metal cooled reactor (LMFR) technology using mixed oxide fue ...

, Japan agreed to cooperate in developing the French ASTRID demonstration sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor. As of 2016, France was seeking the full involvement of Japan in the ASTRID development. In 2015, the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy changed the accounting provisions of the Electricity Business Act, so companies can account for decommissioning costs in ten yearly installments rather than a one-time charge. This will encourage the decommissioning of older and smaller nuclear units, most of which have not restarted since 2011. In 2022, during the global energy crisis which greatly increased the cost of imported fossil fuels, Japan's prime minister announced the building of safer next-generation nuclear reactors and restarting idle existing plants would be considered. In 2022 ten reactors were operational producing about 5% of Japan's electricity. In December 2022, Japan's

Nuclear Regulation Authority The is an administrative body of the Cabinet of Japan established to ensure nuclear safety in Japan as part of the Ministry of the Environment. Established on September 19, 2012, its first head was Shunichi Tanaka. Background The NRA was forme ...

(NRA) approved a draft-rule allowing nuclear reactors to operate beyond 60 years by excluding inspection downtimes. This was part of a policy at enhancing nuclear reactor use, including restarting many, extending older units' lives, and developing new reactor technologies. In February 2023, the cabinet approved this policy and the construction of new reactors. By May 2023, a law was enacted to officially omit shutdown periods from the 60-year limit, subject to the economy minister's approval. The law also required the NRA to perform inspections every 10 years for reactors over 30 years of operation.

Seismicity

Japan has had a long history of earthquakes and seismic activity, and destructive

earthquake An earthquakealso called a quake, tremor, or tembloris the shaking of the Earth's surface resulting from a sudden release of energy in the lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from those so weak they ...

s, often resulting in

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s, occur several times a century. Due to this, concern has been expressed about the particular risks of constructing and operating nuclear power plants in Japan.

Amory Lovins Amory Bloch Lovins (born November 13, 1947) is an American writer, physicist, and former chairman/chief scientist of the Rocky Mountain Institute. He has written on energy policy and related areas for four decades, and served on the US Nation ...

has said: "An earthquake-and-tsunami zone crowded with 127 million people is an unwise place for 54 reactors". To date, the most serious seismic-related accident has been the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which r ...

, following the

. Professor

Katsuhiko Ishibashi is a professor in the ''Research Center for Urban Safety and Security'' in the ''Graduate School of Science'' at Kobe University, Japan and a seismologist who has written extensively in the areas of seismicity and seismotectonics in and around th ...

, one of the

seismologists Seismology (; from Ancient Greek σεισμός (''seismós'') meaning "earthquake" and -λογία (''-logía'') meaning "study of") is the scientific study of earthquakes (or generally, quakes) and the generation and propagation of elastic w ...

who have taken an active interest in the topic, coined the term '' genpatsu-shinsai'' (原発震災), from the Japanese words for "nuclear power" and "quake disaster" to express the potential worst-case catastrophe that could ensue.Katsuhiko Ishibashi
"Why worry? Japan's nuclear plants at grave risk from quake damage"
''The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus'' (11 August 2007) Also published by the ''International Herald Tribune'' (11 August 2007). Retrieved 24 March 2011 Dr

Kiyoo Mogi was a prominent seismologist. He was regarded as Japan's foremost authority on earthquake prediction Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction The Coordinating Committee for Earthquake Prediction (CCEP) (Japanese language, Japanese: 地震予知連絡会, ''Jishin Yochi Renraku-kai'') in Japan was founded in April 1969,Quake shuts world's largest nuclear plant
Nature, vol 448, 392–393, , published 2007-07-25, accessed 18 March 2011 has expressed similar concerns, stating in 2004 that the issue 'is a critical problem which can bring a catastrophe to Japan through a man-made disaster'.Two grave issues concerning the expected Tokai Earthquake
Kiyoo Mogi, ''Earth Planets Space'', Vol. 56 (No. 8), pp. li–lxvi, published 2004, accessed 11 March 2011 Warnings from Kunihiko Shimazaki, a professor of seismology at the University of Tokyo, were also ignored. In 2004, as a member of an influential cabinet office committee on offshore earthquakes, Mr. Shimazaki "warned that Fukushima's coast was vulnerable to tsunamis more than twice as tall as the forecasts of as much as five meters put forth by regulators and Tokyo Electric". Minutes of the meeting on 19 February 2004, show that the government bureaucrats running the committee moved quickly to exclude his views from the committee's final report. He said the committee did not want to force Tokyo Electric to make expensive upgrades at the plant. Hidekatsu Yoshii, a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

for

Japanese Communist Party The is a communist party in Japan. Founded in 1922, it is the oldest political party in the country. It has 250,000 members as of January 2024, making it one of the largest non-governing communist parties in the world. The party is chaired ...

and an anti-nuclear campaigner, warned in March and October 2006 about the possibility of the severe damage that might be caused by a tsunami or earthquake. During a parliamentary committee in May 2010 he made similar claims, warning that the cooling systems of a Japanese nuclear plant could be destroyed by a landslide or earthquake. In response, Yoshinobu Terasaka, head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, replied that the plants were so well designed that "such a situation is practically impossible". Following damage at the

Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant The is a large, modern (housing the world's first advanced boiling water reactor or ABWR) nuclear power plant on a site.TEPCO Official Press Release (Japanese)First in Japan – Use of the Full Area for Power Plant Buildings, Reinforced Concr ...

due to the

2007 Chūetsu offshore earthquake The ) was a powerful magnitude 6.6 earthquake that occurred 10:13 local time (01:13 UTC) on July 16, 2007, in the northwest Niigata Prefecture of Japan. The earthquake, which occurred at a previously unknown offshore fault shook Niigata and ...

, Kiyoo Mogi called for the immediate closure of the

,Nuclear crisis in Japan as scientists reveal quake threat to power plants
The Times, published 2007-07-19, accessed 18 March 2011 which was knowingly built close to the centre of the expected Tōkai earthquake. Katsuhiko Ishibashi previously claimed, in 2004, that Hamaoka was "considered to be the most dangerous nuclear power plant in Japan".Japan's deadly game of nuclear roulette
The Japan Times, published 2004-05-23, accessed 18 March 2011 The

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

(IAEA) has also expressed concern. At a meeting of the G8's Nuclear Safety and Security Group, held in Tokyo in 2008, an IAEA expert warned that a strong

with a

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

above could pose a 'serious problem' for Japan's nuclear power stations. Before Fukushima, "14 lawsuits charging that risks had been ignored or hidden were filed in Japan, revealing a disturbing pattern in which operators underestimated or hid seismic dangers to avoid costly upgrades and keep operating. But all the lawsuits were unsuccessful". Underscoring the risks facing Japan, a 2012 research institute investigation has "determined there is a 70% chance of a magnitude-7 earthquake striking the Tokyo metropolitan area within the next four years, and 98% over 30 years". The March 2011 earthquake was a magnitude 9.

Design standards

Between 2005 and 2007, three Japanese nuclear power plants were shaken by earthquakes that far exceeded the maximum

peak ground acceleration Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is equal to the maximum ground acceleration that occurred during earthquake shaking at a location. PGA is equal to the amplitude of the largest absolute acceleration recorded on an wikt:accelerogram, accelerogram at a ...

used in their design.Japan's nuclear plant quake protection too lax, said expert

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

published 2011-03-13, accessed 6 April 2011 The

that followed the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number) * One of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''Eleven'', a 1970 collection of short stories by Patricia Highsmith *''Eleven'' ...

, inundating the

Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant may refer to: Japan * Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture **Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan *** Fukushima University, national university in Japan ***Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushima ...

, was more than twice the design height, while the ground acceleration also slightly exceeded the design parameters. In 2006 a Japanese government subcommittee was charged with revising the national guidelines on the earthquake-resistance of nuclear power plants, which had last been partially revised in 2001,Regulatory Guide for Reviewing Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities
Nuclear Safety Commission, published 2006-09-19, accessed 6 April 2011 resulting in the publication of a new seismic guide – the 2006 ''Regulatory Guide for Reviewing Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Reactor Facilities''. The subcommittee membership included Professor Ishibashi, however his proposal that the standards for surveying active faults should be reviewed was rejected and he resigned at the final meeting, claiming that the review process was 'unscientific' and the outcome riggedJapan Nuclear Energy Drive Compromised by Conflicts of Interest

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

, published 2007-12-12, accessed 11 April 2011 to suit the interests of the

Japan Electric Association The (JEA) is a membership organisation for the electricity sector in Japan and, although it has roots dating back to 1892, was founded in October 1921.

, which had 11 of its committee members on the 19-member government subcommittee. Ishibashi has subsequently claimed that, although the new guide brought in the most far-reaching changes since 1978, it was 'seriously flawed' because it underestimated the design basis of earthquake ground motion. He has also claimed that the enforcement system is 'a shambles' and questioned the independence of the Nuclear Safety Commission after a senior Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official appeared to rule out a new review of the NSC's seismic design guide in 2007. Following the publication of the new 2006 Seismic Guide, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, at the request of the Nuclear Safety Commission, required the design of all existing nuclear power plants to be re-evaluated.

Geological surveys

The standard of geological survey work in Japan is another area causing concern. In 2008 Taku Komatsubara, a

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

at the

National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology The , or AIST, is a Japanese research facility headquartered in Tokyo, and most of the workforce is located in Tsukuba Science City, Ibaraki, and in several cities throughout Japan. The institute is managed to integrate scientific and enginee ...

alleged that the presence of active faults was deliberately ignored when surveys of potential new power plant sites were undertaken, a view supported by a former

topographer Topography is the study of the forms and features of land surfaces. The topography of an area may refer to the landforms and features themselves, or a description or depiction in maps. Topography is a field of geoscience and planetary scienc ...

. Takashi Nakata, a seismologist from the Hiroshima Institute of Technology has made similar allegations and suggests that conflicts of interest between the Japanese nuclear industry and the regulators contribute to the problem. A 2011

Natural Resources Defense Council The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is a United States–based 501(c)(3) non-profit international environmental advocacy group, with its headquarters in New York City and offices in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicag ...

report that evaluated the seismic hazard to reactors worldwide, as determined by the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment Program data, placed 35 of Japan's reactors in the group of 48 reactors worldwide in very high and high seismic hazard areas.

Nuclear power plants

As of January 2022 there are 33 operable reactors in Japan, of which 12 reactors are currently operating. Additionally, 5 reactors have been approved for restart and further 8 have restart applications under review. On 6 May 2011, then Prime Minister

requested the

be shut down as an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher is estimated 87% likely to hit the area within the next 30 years. Kan wanted to avoid a possible repeat of the

Fukushima nuclear disaster The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...

. On 9 May 2011, Chubu Electric decided to comply with the government's request. In July 2011, a mayor in Shizuoka Prefecture and a group of residents filed a lawsuit seeking the decommissioning of the reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear power plant permanently. In April 2014,

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

reported that Prime Minister

Shinzo Abe Shinzo Abe (21 September 1954 – 8 July 2022) was a Japanese politician who served as Prime Minister of Japan and President of the Liberal Democratic Party (Liberal Democratic Party (Japan), LDP) from 2006 to 2007 and again from 2012 to 2020. ...

favours restarting nuclear plants, but that its analysis suggests that only about one-third to two-thirds of reactors will be in a technical and economic position to restart. In April 2017 the Nuclear Regulation Authority approved plans to decommission the Genkai 1, Mihama 1 and 2, Shimane 1, and Tsuruga 1 reactors.

Nuclear accidents

In terms of consequences of radioactivity releases and core damage, the

Fukushima I nuclear accidents The Fukushima nuclear accident was a major nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan, which began on 11 March 2011. The cause of the accident was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which ...

in 2011 were the worst experienced by the Japanese nuclear industry, in addition to ranking among the worst civilian nuclear accidents, though no fatalities were caused and no serious exposure of radiation to workers occurred. The Tokaimura reprocessing plant fire in 1999 had 2 worker deaths, one more was exposed to radiation levels above legal limits, and over 660 others received detectable radiation doses but within permissible levels, well below the threshold to affect human health. The Mihama Nuclear Power Plant experienced a steam explosion in one of the turbine buildings in 2004 where five workers were killed and six injured.

2011 accidents

There have been many nuclear shutdowns, failures, and three partial meltdowns which were triggered by the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

According to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan, "by April 27 approximately 55 percent of the fuel in reactor unit 1 had melted, along with 35 percent of the fuel in unit 2, and 30 percent of the fuel in unit 3; and overheated spent fuels in the storage pools of units 3 and 4 probably were also damaged". The accident exceeds the 1979

in seriousness, and is comparable to the 1986

. ''The Economist'' reports that the Fukushima disaster is "a bit like three Three Mile Islands in a row, with added damage in the spent-fuel stores", and that there will be ongoing impacts:

Years of clean-up will drag into decades. A permanent exclusion zone could end up stretching beyond the plant’s perimeter. Seriously exposed workers may be at increased risk of cancers for the rest of their lives...

On 24 March 2011, Japanese officials announced that "radioactive iodine-131 exceeding safety limits for infants had been detected at 18 water-purification plants in Tokyo and five other prefectures". Officials said also that the fallout from the Dai-ichi plant is "hindering search efforts for victims from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami". Problems in stabilizing the

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant The is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Ōkuma, Fukushima, Ōkuma and Futaba, Fukushima, Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The plant Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, suffered major damage from the 201 ...

have hardened attitudes to

nuclear power Nuclear power is the use of nuclear reactions to produce electricity. Nuclear power can be obtained from nuclear fission, nuclear decay and nuclear fusion reactions. Presently, the vast majority of electricity from nuclear power is produced by ...

. As of June 2011, "more than 80 percent of Japanese now say they are

and distrust government information on

". The ongoing Fukushima crisis may spell the end of nuclear power in Japan, as "citizen opposition grows and local authorities refuse permission to restart reactors that have undergone safety checks". Local authorities are skeptical that sufficient safety measures have been taken and are reticent to give their permission – now required by law – to bring suspended nuclear reactors back online. Two government advisers have said that "Japan's safety review of nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster is based on faulty criteria and many people involved have conflicts of interest". Hiromitsu Ino, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo, says "The whole process being undertaken is exactly the same as that used previous to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident, even though the accident showed all these guidelines and categories to be insufficient". In 2012, former prime minister

was interviewed about the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and has said that at one point Japan faced a situation where there was a chance that people might not be able to live in the capital zone including Tokyo and would have to evacuate. He says he is haunted by the specter of an even bigger nuclear crisis forcing tens of millions of people to flee Tokyo and threatening the nation's existence. "If things had reached that level, not only would the public have had to face hardships but Japan's very existence would have been in peril". That convinced Kan to "declare the need for Japan to end its reliance on atomic power and promote renewable sources of energy such solar that have long taken a back seat in the resource-poor country's energy mix".

Other accidents

Other accidents of note include:

Benjamin K. Sovacool Benjamin K. Sovacool is an American and British academic who is director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University as well as Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University. He was formerly Director of the Danish Ce ...

. A Critical Evaluation of Nuclear Power and Renewable Electricity in Asia, ''Journal of Contemporary Asia'', Vol. 40, No. 3, August 2010, pp. 380. * 1981: Almost 300 workers were exposed to excessive levels of radiation after a fuel rod ruptured during repairs at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant. * December 1995: The fast breeder

Monju Nuclear Power Plant was a Japanese sodium-cooled fast reactor, located near the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant, Fukui Prefecture. Its name is a reference to Manjusri. Construction started in 1986 and the reactor achieved criticality for the first time in April 1994 ...

sodium leak. State-run operator Donen was found to have concealed videotape footage that showed extensive damage to the reactor. For background on Japan's nuclear development, se
Peter Dauvergne, "Nuclear Power Development in Japan: 'Outside Forces' and the Politics of Reciprocal Consent," ''Asian Survey'' 33 (June 1993), pp. 576-591.
* March 1997: The Tokaimura nuclear reprocessing plant fire and explosion, northeast of Tokyo. 37 workers were exposed to low doses of radiation. Donen later acknowledged it had initially suppressed information about the fire. * 1999: A fuel loading system malfunctioned at a nuclear plant in the Fukui Prefecture and set off an uncontrolled nuclear reaction and explosion. * September 1999: The

criticality accident A criticality accident is an accidental uncontrolled nuclear fission chain reaction. It is sometimes referred to as a critical excursion, critical power excursion, divergent chain reaction, or simply critical. Any such event involves the uninten ...

at the Tokai fuel fabrication facility. Hundreds of people were exposed to radiation, three workers received doses above legal limits of whom two later died. * 2000: Three TEPCO executives were forced to quit after the company in 1989 ordered an employee to edit out footage showing cracks in nuclear plant steam pipes in video being submitted to regulators. * August 2002: a widespread falsification scandal starting in that led to the shut down of all

’s 17 nuclear reactors; Tokyo Electric's officials had falsified inspection records and attempted to hide cracks in reactor vessel shrouds in 13 of its 17 units. * 2002: Two workers were exposed to a small amount of radiation and suffered minor burns during a fire at Onagawa Nuclear Power Station in northern Japan. * 2006: A small amount of radioactive steam was released at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant and it escaped the compound. * 16 July 2007: A severe earthquake (measuring 6.6 on the moment magnitude scale) hit the region where Tokyo Electric's

is located and radioactive water spilled into the Sea of Japan; as of March 2009, all of the reactors remain shut down for damage verification and repairs; the plant with seven units was the largest single nuclear power station in the world.

Nuclear waste disposal

Japanese policy is to reprocess its spent nuclear fuel. Originally spent fuel was reprocessed under contract in England and France, but then the

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant The is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori, Rokkasho ...

was built, with operations originally expected to commence in 2007. The policy to use recovered plutonium as mixed oxide (

MOX Mox or MOX may refer to: People * Jon Moxley (born 1985), American professional wrestler * Mox McQuery (1861–1900), American baseball player Technology * Mac OS X, a computer operating system * Microsoft Open XML, a file format * Mixed ox ...

) reactor fuel was questioned on economic grounds, and in 2004 it was revealed the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry had covered up a 1994 report indicating reprocessing spent fuel would cost four times as much as burying it. In 2000, a Specified Radioactive Waste Final Disposal Act called for creation of a new organization to manage high level radioactive waste, and later that year the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (NUMO) was established under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. NUMO is responsible for selecting a permanent

deep geological repository A deep geological repository is a way of storing hazardous or radioactive waste within a stable geologic environment, typically 200–1,000 m below the surface of the earth. It entails a combination of waste form, waste package, engineered seals ...

site, construction, operation and closure of the facility for waste emplacement by 2040. Site selection began in 2002 and application information was sent to 3,239 municipalities, but by 2006, no local government had volunteered to host the facility.

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 669,516 (1 April 2023) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and Tok ...

showed interest in 2007, but its mayor resigned due to local opposition. In December 2013 the government decided to identify suitable candidate areas before approaching municipalities. In 2014 the head of the

Science Council of Japan The Science Council of Japan (SCJ) is a representative organization of Japanese scholars and scientists in all fields of sciences, including humanities, social sciences, life sciences, natural sciences, and engineering. , president of Toyohashi ...

’s expert panel has said Japan's seismic conditions makes it difficult to predict ground conditions over the necessary 100,000 years, so it will be impossible to convince the public of the safety of deep geological disposal. The cost of MOX fuel had roughly quadrupled from 1999 to 2017, creating doubts about the economics of nuclear fuel reprocessing. In 2018 the

updated plutonium guidelines to try to reduce plutonium stockpiles, stipulating that the

should only produce the amount of plutonium required for MOX fuel for Japan's nuclear power plants.

Nuclear regulatory bodies in Japan

– A nuclear safety agency under the environment ministry, created on 19 September 2012. It replaced the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the Nuclear Safety Commission. *

(AEC) 原子力委員会 – Now operating as a commission of inquiry to the Japanese cabinet, this organization coordinates the entire nation's plans in the area of nuclear energy. * Nuclear Safety Commission 原子力安全委員会 – The former Japanese regulatory body for the nuclear industry. * Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) 原子力安全・保安院 – A former agency that performed regulatory activities and was formed on 6 January 2001, after a reorganization of governmental agencies.

Nuclear power companies

Electric utilities running nuclear plants

Japan is divided into a number of regions that each get electric service from their respective regional provider, all utilities hold a monopoly and are strictly regulated by the Japanese government. For more background information, see

Energy in Japan Japan is a major consumer of energy, ranking fifth in the world by primary energy use. Fossil fuels accounted for 88% of Japan's primary energy in 2019. Japan imports most of its energy due to scarce domestic resources. As of 2022, the cou ...

. All regional utilities in Japan currently operate nuclear plants with the exception of the Okinawa Electric Power Company. They are also all members of the Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO) industry organization. The companies are listed below. * Regional electric providers :*

Hokkaidō Electric Power Company The , or for short, is the monopoly Electrical power industry, electric company of Hokkaidō, Japan. It is also known as Dōden and HEPCO. The company is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the . According to the company profile, during fisc ...

(HEPCO) - 北海道電力 :* Tōhoku Electric Power Company (Tōhoku Electric) - 東北電力 :*

(TEPCO) - 東京電力 :* Chūbu Electric Power Company (CHUDEN) - 中部電力 :* Hokuriku Electric Power Company (RIKUDEN) - 北陸電力 :*

Kansai Electric Power Company , also known as , is an electric utility with its operational area of Kansai region, Japan (including the Keihanshin megalopolis). The Kansai region is Japan's second-largest industrial area, and in normal times, its most nuclear-reliant. Bef ...

(KEPCO) - 関西電力 :* Chūgoku Electric Power Company (Energia) - 中国電力 :*

Shikoku Electric Power Company The is the electric provider for the 4 prefectures of the Shikoku island in Japan with some exceptions. Their image character is . On April 12, 1991 the company instituted Akari-chan as their image character and at the same time introduced t ...

(YONDEN) - 四国電力 :*

Kyūshū Electric Power Company is a Japanese energy company that provides power to 7 prefectures (Fukuoka Prefecture, Fukuoka, Nagasaki Prefecture, Nagasaki, Ōita Prefecture, Ōita, Saga Prefecture, Saga, Miyazaki Prefecture, Miyazaki, Kumamoto Prefecture, Kumamoto, Kagos ...

(Kyūshū Electric) - 九州電力 * Other companies with a stake in nuclear power :*

Japan Atomic Energy Agency The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is a Japanese atomic energy company. While it inherited the activities of both Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, JNC and Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, JAERI, it also inherited the nickname of J ...

(JAEA) - 日本原子力研究開発機構 :*

Japan Atomic Power Company The is a company initially formed to jump start the commercial use of nuclear power in Japan, and currently operates two different sites. According to the official web site, JAPC is "the only power company in Japan solely engaged in nuclear en ...

(JPAC) - 日本原子力発電 ::JAPC, jointly owned by several Japan's major electric utilities, was created by special provisions from the Japanese government to be the first company in Japan to run a nuclear plant. Today it still operates two separate sites. :*

Electric Power Development Company The , operating under the brand name J-POWER, formerly , is an electric utility in Japan. It mainly produces electricity from coal and hydroelectric power stations. It also has a few wind farms and is currently building a nuclear plant in Ohma, ...

(EDPC, J-POWER) - 電源開発 ::This company was created by a special law after the end of World War II, it operates a number of coal fired, hydroelectric, and wind power plants, the Ohma nuclear plant that is under construction will mark its entrance to the industry upon completion.

Nuclear vendors and fuel cycle companies

Nuclear vendors provide fuel in its fabricated form, ready to be loaded in the reactor, nuclear services, and/or manage construction of new nuclear plants. The following is an incomplete list of companies based in Japan that provide such services. The companies listed here provide fuel or services for commercial light water plants, and in addition to this, JAEA has a small

MOX fuel Mixed oxide fuel (MOX fuel) is nuclear fuel that contains more than one oxide of fissile material, usually consisting of plutonium blended with natural uranium, reprocessed uranium, or depleted uranium. MOX fuel is an alternative to the low-enr ...

fabrication plant. Japan operates a robust

nuclear fuel cycle The nuclear fuel cycle, also known as the nuclear fuel chain, describes the series of stages that nuclear fuel undergoes during its production, use, and recycling or disposal. It consists of steps in the ''front end'', which are the preparation o ...

. * Nuclear Fuel Industries (NFI) - 原子燃料工業 NFI operates nuclear fuel fabrication plants in both

Kumatori, Osaka 270px, Eiraku Dam in theOkuyama-Ameyama Nature Park is a town located in Sen'nan District, Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 43,154 in 18377 households and a population density of 2500 persons per km2. The total ...

and in Tōkai, Ibaraki, fabricating 284 and 200 (respectively) metric tons Uranium per year. The Tōkai site produces BWR, HTR, and ATR fuel while the Kumatori site produces only PWR fuel. * Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL, JNF) - 日本原燃 The shareholders of JNFL are the Japanese utilities. JNFL plans to open a full scale enrichment facility in

Rokkasho, Aomori is a village in Aomori Prefecture, Japan. , the village had an estimated population of 9,845 in 4988 households, and a population density of 40 persons per km². The total area of the village is . Geography Rokkasho occupies the eastern coast ...

with a capacity of 1.5 million SWU/yr along with a MOX fuel fabrication facility. JNFL has also operated a nuclear fuel fabrication facility called Kurihama Nuclear Fuel Plant in

Yokosuka, Kanagawa is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the city has a population of 373,797, and a population density of . The total area is . Yokosuka is the 11th-most populous city in the Greater Tokyo Area, and the 12th in the Kantō region. The city is ...

as GNF, producing BWR fuel. *

Atmea Atmea was a joint venture between Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and EDF Group set up in 2006 to develop, market, license and sell the ATMEA1 reactor, a new generation III+, medium-power pressurized water reactor (PWR). The company was headquar ...

- 三菱重工業原子力事業本部 MHI operates a fuel manufacturing plant in Tōkai, Ibaraki, and contributes many heavy industry components to construction of new nuclear plants, and has recently designed its own APWR plant type, fuel fabrication has been completely PWR fuel, though MHI sells components to BWRs as well. It was selected by the Japanese government to develop fast breeder reactor technology and formed

Mitsubishi FBR Systems Mitsubishi FBR Systems, Inc. (MFBR) is a company formed on July 1, 2007, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop Fast breeder reactor technology. The establishment of the company was based on the April 2007 decision by the Japanese government to ...

. MHI has also announced an alliance with

Areva Areva S.A. was a French multinational group specializing in nuclear power, active between 2001 and 2018. It was headquartered in Courbevoie, France. Before its 2016 corporate restructuring, Areva was majority-owned by the French state through t ...

to form a new company called Atmea. * Global Nuclear Fuel (GNF). GNF was formed as a joint venture with GE Nuclear Energy (GENE),

Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...

, and

on 1 January 2000. GENE has since strengthened its relationship with Hitachi, forming a global nuclear alliance: *

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) is a provider of advanced reactors and nuclear services. It is headquartered in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. Established in June 2007, GEH is a nuclear alliance created by General Electric and Hitach ...

(GEH) - 日立GEニュークリア・エナジー This company was formed 1 July 2007. Its next generation reactor, the ESBWR has made significant progress with US regulators. Its predecessor design, the ABWR, has been approved by the UK regulator for construction in the UK, following successful completion of the generic design assessment (GDA) process in 2017. *

- 東芝電力システム社原子力事業部 Toshiba has maintained a large nuclear business focused mostly on Boiling Water Reactors. With the purchase of the American Westinghouse by US$5.4 Billion in 2006, which is focused mainly on

Pressurized Water Reactor A pressurized water reactor (PWR) is a type of light-water nuclear reactor. PWRs constitute the large majority of the world's nuclear power plants (with notable exceptions being the UK, Japan, India and Canada). In a PWR, water is used both as ...

technology, it increased the size of its nuclear business about twofold. On 29 March 2017 Toshiba placed Westinghouse in

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

because of $9 billion of losses from its nuclear reactor construction projects, mostly the construction of four

AP1000 The AP1000 is a nuclear power plant designed and sold by Westinghouse Electric Company. The plant is a pressurized water reactor with improved use of passive nuclear safety and many design features intended to lower its capital cost and improve ...

reactors in the U.S. Toshiba still has a profitable maintenance and nuclear fuel supply business in Japan, and is a significant contractor in the Fukushima clean-up. * Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co. A company formed by

TEPCO is a Japanese electric utility holding company servicing Japan's Kantō region, Yamanashi Prefecture, and the eastern portion of Shizuoka Prefecture. This area includes Tokyo. Its headquarters are located in Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and ...

and Japan Atomic Power Co. to build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility in

Aomori Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan in the Tōhoku region. The prefecture's capital, largest city, and namesake is the city of Aomori (city), Aomori. Aomori is the northernmost prefecture on Japan's main island, Honshu, and is border ...

. There have been discussions between Hitachi, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Toshiba about possibly consolidating some of their nuclear activities.

Nuclear research and professional organizations in Japan

Research organizations

These organizations are government-funded research organizations, though many of them have special status to give them power of administration separate from the Japanese government. Their origins date back to the Atomic Energy Basic Law, but they have been reorganized several times since their inception. *

Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute () (JAERI) is a former semi-governmental organization that existed for the purpose of further nuclear power in Japan. It was created in June 1956 by the Atomic Energy Basic Law. It merged with Japan Nucl ...

(JAERI) - 日本原子力研究所 The original nuclear energy research organization established by the Japanese government under cooperation with U.S. partners. * Atomic Fuel Corporation - 原子燃料公社 This organization was formed along with JAERI under the Atomic Energy Basic Law and was later reorganized to be PNC. *

Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation The or for short, was a Japanese nuclear energy research organization established 2 October 1967 with the Atomic Fuel Corporation as its parent organization and disbanded in 1998 to be restructured as the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institut ...

(PNC) - Succeeded the AFC in 1967 in order to perform more direct construction of experimental nuclear plants, and was renamed JNC in 1998. * Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) - 核燃料サイクル開発機構 (semi-governmental agency) Was formed in 1998 as the direct successor to the PNC. This organization operated Lojo and Monju experimental and demonstration reactors. *

(JAEA) - 日本原子力研究開発機構 This is the modern, currently operating primary nuclear research organization in Japan. It was formed by a merger of JAERI and JNC in 2005.

Academic/professional organizations

* Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) 日本原子力産業協会 is a non-profit organization, established in 1956 to promote the peaceful use of atomic energy. * The Atomic Energy Society of Japan (AESJ) 日本原子力学会 is a major academic organization in Japan focusing on all forms of nuclear power. The ''Journal of Nuclear Science and Technology'' is the academic journal run by the AESJ. It publishes English and Japanese articles, though most submissions are from Japanese research institutes, universities, and companies. * Japan Nuclear Technology Institute (JANTI) 日本原子力技術協会 was established to by the nuclear power industry to support and lead that industry. *

Japan Electric Association The (JEA) is a membership organisation for the electricity sector in Japan and, although it has roots dating back to 1892, was founded in October 1921.

(JEA) 日本電気協会 develops and publishes codes and guides for the Japanese nuclear power industry Convention on Nuclear Safety; National Report of Japan for Fourth Review Meeting
Government of Japan, published September 2007, accessed 7 April 2011 and is active in promoting nuclear power.
Japan Electric Association, accessed 7 April 2011

Other proprietary organizations

* JCO. Established in 1978 as by Sumimoto Metal Mining Co. this company did work with Uranium conversion and set up factories at the Tokai-mura site. Later, it was held solely responsible for the

Anti-nuclear movement

Anti-Nuclear Power Plant Rally on 19 September 2011 at Meiji Shrine Outer Garden 03

Long one of the world's most committed promoters of civilian

, Japan's nuclear industry was not hit as hard by the effects of the 1979

(USA) or the 1986

(USSR) as some other countries. Construction of new plants continued to be strong through the 1980s and into the 1990s. However, starting in the mid-1990s there were several nuclear related accidents and cover-ups in Japan that eroded public perception of the industry, resulting in protests and resistance to new plants. These accidents included the

, the Mihama steam explosion, cover-ups after accidents at the Monju reactor, and more recently the

was completely shut down for 21 months following an earthquake in 2007. While exact details may be in dispute, it is clear that the safety culture in Japan's nuclear industry has come under greater scrutiny. The negative impact of the 2011

has changed attitudes in Japan. Political and energy experts describe "nothing short of a nationwide loss of faith, not only in Japan’s once-vaunted nuclear technology but also in the government, which many blame for allowing the accident to happen". Sixty thousand people marched in central Tokyo on 19 September 2011, chanting "Sayonara nuclear power" and waving banners, to call on Japan's government to abandon nuclear power, following the Fukushima disaster. Bishop of Osaka, Michael Goro Matsuura, has called on the solidarity of Christians worldwide to support this anti-nuclear campaign. In July 2012, 75,000 people gathered near in Tokyo for the capital's largest anti-nuclear event. Organizers and participants said such demonstrations signal a fundamental change in attitudes in a nation where relatively few have been willing to engage in political protests since the 1960s.

Anti-nuclear The Anti-nuclear war movement is a social movement that opposes various nuclear technologies. Some direct action groups, environmental movements, and professional organisations have identified themselves with the movement at the local, n ...

groups include the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center,

Stop Rokkasho The is a nuclear reprocessing plant with an annual capacity of 800 tons of uranium or 8 tons of plutonium. It is owned by Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL) and is part of the Rokkasho complex located in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori, Rokkasho ...

, Hidankyo, Sayonara Nuclear Power Plants, Women from Fukushima Against Nukes, and the Article 9 group. People associated with the anti-nuclear movement include: Jinzaburo Takagi,

Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer. His novels, essays, and short stories have been best-sellers in Japan and internationally, with his work translated into 50 languages and having sold millions of copies outside Japan. He has received numerous awards for hi ...

Kenzaburō Ōe was a Japanese writer and a major figure in contemporary Japanese literature. His novels, short stories and essays, strongly influenced by French and American literature and literary theory, deal with political, social and philosophical issue ...

Nobuto Hosaka (born November 26, 1955) is a Japanese politician and the current mayor of Setagaya in Tokyo. In addition, he was a member of the House of Representatives for the Social Democratic Party until July 21, 2009. Hosaka campaigned and won the mayor ...

Mizuho Fukushima is a Japanese politician and attorney. A native of Nobeoka, Miyazaki, she has been a member of the House of Councillors (Japan), House of Councillors since 1998, was re-elected in 2004 and 2010, and was the head of the Social Democratic Party (J ...

Ryuichi Sakamoto was a Music of Japan, Japanese musician, composer, keyboardist, record producer, singer and actor. He pursued a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the Synthesizer, synth-based band Yellow Magic Orchestra (YMO). With his ...

and Tetsunari Iida.

Notes

References

External links

Nuclear power in Japan
on the

World Nuclear Association World Nuclear Association is the international organization that promotes nuclear power and supports the companies that comprise the global nuclear industry. Its members come from all parts of the nuclear fuel cycle, including uranium mining ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuclear Power In Japan Nuclear accidents and incidents