Page 5 - AsiaElec Week 07 2023
P. 5
AsiaElec COMMENTARY AsiaElec
Furthermore, in a statement seeming to Summarizing on behalf of the commission,
object to the actual process of reintroduc- chairman Shinsuke Yamanaka merely added
ing nuclear power, a second commissioner, that the move back to nuclear was part and
the serving deputy chief of Japan’s Atomic parcel of the NRA’s task “to inspect the safety
Energy Agency nuclear safety research facil- of ageing reactors no matter how long their
ity, Tomoyuki Sugiyama, called the talks operational lifespan.”
rushed. It was a view and subsequent decision that car-
Sugiyama attributed this to government ried the day, with Japan once again a state dependent
pressure according to sources, adding that the on nuclear power pending passage of confirmatory
NRA should have had more independence in bills in the Japanese Diet later this month.
making their decision. When those bills are signed into law, the
Crucially though, he stopped short of out- long-standing LDP goal of nuclear power
right condemnation of the process, and of the making up 20-22% of Japan’s national energy
five members, four cleared the passage of the mix by 2030, will be well and truly back on
new legislation. track.
Week 07 15 •February•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P5
