Even Japan, which survived the horror of the Fukushima nuclear accident just 11 years ago, is now succumbing to the lure of nuclear power.

Fear of blackouts and the need to limit energy imports are pushing the island nation with a troubled past not only to restart dormant nuclear reactors, but also to develop new units that will work with next-generation technologies. The government’s plans were mentioned yesterday by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and indeed in the context of the cabinet meeting on the “green transformation of the economy”.

The government is exploring the development and construction of new reactors to avoid straining the country’s electricity grid, which has reached its limit and created problems due to increased demand in the summer, he said. He added that in order to limit the country’s dependence on energy imports, it plans to restart seven reactors starting next summer. This means that 17 of the country’s 33 reactors will be operational again.

“Nuclear energy and renewable sources are necessary for the transition to a green transformation of our economy,” emphasized Mr. Kishida, who did not fail to refer to the energy crisis and blame Russia, which, as he stressed, “with its invasion of Ukraine has changed the global energy situation”.

Shares in the country’s largest utility company, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates one of the idle nuclear power plants in Niigata Prefecture, surged 10 percent on the news. At the same time, the share of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which produces reactors, increased by 6.9%, while the share of steel producer Japan Steel Works increased by 5.5%.

India is moving ahead with the development of two 700 megawatt nuclear reactors.

At the same time, while many countries in the world see nuclear power as a way out of the energy crisis, India is developing and expanding its nuclear plans. The country’s largest energy company plans to develop another major nuclear project just a few weeks after the announcement of the entry into the field.

India’s state monopoly joint venture with NTPC Ltd, which uses almost exclusively coal to generate and power the world’s fastest growing population, is in talks with the government to develop two 700-unit nuclear reactors, according to sources close to megawatts, in the central province of Madhya Pradesh. This was preceded a few days ago by NTPC’s announcement that it would make its nuclear debut with two reactors in the northern province of Haryana.

India currently has six gigawatts of nuclear generating capacity. This is the largest amount of nuclear generating capacity after China, which, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, currently has almost three times as much nuclear generating capacity under construction.

Source: Bloomberg.