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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Kurashi: No "cheap" nuclear power for Tokyo, regardless of who wins governorship

Via Martin Frid at Kurashi, who explains why Tokyo won't be supplied with s "cheap" nuclear power, regardless of who wins the Tokyo governorship:
But the reality is that for Tokyo citizens, there is very little possibility of nuclear power plants to provide energy for the city's bright lights. Consumers, who vote, should know that only a handful of nuclear power plants that may provide energy to the metropolis are even candidates for restarts.

A reminder: Currently, none of Japan's 48 nuclear power plants are online. Japan has completely gone off the nuclear "heroin" drug.

But 16 are applying for restarts as of February 1, 2014.

Of those, only two would be in any position to provide Tokyo with electricity. Those are reactors 6 and 7 in Kashiwasaki Kariwa in far away Niigata prefecture. Both were severely shaken by the earthquake back in 2007, so we know they are not yet confirmed to be safe as such. No other reactors that may provide Tokyo voters with energy are about to be restarted.

I went on a tour back in 2008 at the world's largest nuclear plant in Kashiwazaki Kariwa in Niigata prefecture, western Japan. It has seven nuclear reactors that are currently all undergoing repairs after the massive earthquake in July, 2007. The PR from Tepco, the electricity company that runs the plant, was confusing at first, (BBC) and it is clear that damage was more severe than initially reported...

As for the rest, such as the controversial Hamaoka reactor southwest of Tokyo, they have recently built a huge 22 meter high wall hoping that will stop a potential tsunami. And that would not be providing Tokyo residents with juice for their heated toilets, air conditioners, rechargeable gadgets, or else. And I know there are any number of factory owners and businesses that hope for cheap electricity, but it just is not going to happen.

The Tokyo election on February 9 is not about nuclear power, because the capital of Japan no longer has any number of nuclear plants to provide it with "cheap" electricity.

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