In the fall of 1999, support for "sustainable energy" (recyclable and regenerable energy, including solar and wind energy) in the Japanese Congress was high. An alliance for its promotion came into being in the Congress. Currently, 260 legislators from across the political divide are members of the alliance.
The goal underlying the "Bill to Promote Sustainable Energy" is to place responsibility on the power companies to purchase sustainable energy. Such a measure has had some very interesting results in the US and Europe, especially where the development of sustainable energy is still in its infancy. The bill stipulates that the power companies must first enter contracts for the purchase of sustainable energy, and then gradually formulate a "basic plan to supply sustainable energy."
An interim session of the Japanese Congress is scheduled to convene at the end of September. Members of the alliance plan to introduce the bill then. The bill has won the support of both pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear groups, and is backed by a large number of legislators. Doubts remain, however, as to whether passage of the bill will shift the current policy involving high dependency on nuclear power to one that is non-nuclear-intensive.
Talks conducted in the past addressed whether to commission a further 20 nuclear power generators. The number has, however, since been decreased to 13. This is because within Japan, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find new sites for nuclear power plants. The government is being compelled to add nuclear power generators to existing plants.
The reason for the difficulty in finding plant sites is obviously because Japanese are understanding more and more about the risk of nuclear accidents and the problem of nuclear waste disposal. The nearby residents and local governments of the designated nuclear power plants are especially becoming increasingly well-informed. In terms of risk of nuclear spills, even if one disregards the Chenobyl experience, we know for a fact that, especially in view of the JCO Company's accident, more and more nuclear accidents are taking place in Japan.
As for the problem of waste disposal, the government remains incapable of determining a mode of final disposal. In May of this year, a bill on the disposal of highly nuclear-active waste was finally passed. The solution it adopts, however, is to bury the waste under ground.
To Japan, a country with rich underground water resources and frequent earthquakes, the bill is not, from a technological point of view, without fault. The high costs involved in such a manner of waste disposal, moreover, are actually being carried over into electricity bills.
In the past 30 years, the Japanese government has already expended more than Y10 trillion (approximate NT$3 trillion) on measures associated with nuclear power. Local governments of areas housing nuclear power sites have long suffered financial difficulties, due to their remote locations. Once the nuclear power plants were installed, no other industry would dare to locate in the area. Leaving aside the temporary increase in manual work during plant construction, local residents will not be employed at the plants once construction ends. The remaining jobs are all very high risk, entailing exposure to radioactive materials.
Pro-nuclear groups in Japan may be impressed or even excited by Taiwan's development of nuclear power. In Japan, however, it may be said that no one holds any illusion about the future of nuclear power.
Mizuho Fukushima is a Social Democrat Party legislator in the Japanese Congress.
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