Japan and

Nuclear Energy

“Should Japan continue to use nuclear

energy, and if so, to what extent, and

when?”

Anti-Nuclear

Shoya Takahata

Natsuko Cynthia Ohkawa

Yusuke Takahata

SHOYA• Disadvantages of Nuclear

Power:o Economico Environmentalo Foodo Healtho Politicalo Personalo Community

Economic insecurity• Construction costo Expected to be

between$6billion to $9billion for 1100MW plant

• What is costing so much?o Land, Cooling towers and other

facilities to run Nuclear

o Interest rate is high (almost double the price)

• Maintenance costo expected to be

1,200,000,000,000 yen for 9 nuclear power plants in Japan

o Labor costs and cost of equipment

Environmental insecurity • Radioactive waste can

damage the environment• Low-level waste,

Intermediate-level waste are 97%

• High-level waste (3%) but 12,000 tonnes world wide

• Takes 100,000 years to be non harmful

Food insecurity• After the Fukushima incident,

price of the vegetable went lowo Chiba, Ibaraki, Gunma,

Fukushima, Tochigi

• Compared with 2010, which was a bad harvest, 2011 had the same amount of vegetable being able to sello Chiba:14% Ibaraki:39%

Gunma:17% Fukushima:18% Tochigi: 24%

Health insecurity• Stochastic health effects

o Causing cancer in a long run

o Causing mutation

Teratogenic and genetic

• Non stochastic health effects

o Acute, immediate response in body

Skin burn, nausea, hair loss, dysfunction of organs, and death

• Children are more likely to be harmed

o More cell movements for radiation to interrupt

• Mental Health and stress

o The younger the child is, the more sensitive to stress

o Anxiety and irritation

Political insecurity• After Fukushima

incident, policy making was important

• Government was expected to make a quick response to repair the accident

• Government was pressured to create a good policy

Personal insecurity• As long as there is a nuclear power

plant, it is a threat for the citizens• After the incident in Japan, many

people cannot go back to their home• People who work in Fukushima

nuclear plant is in personal risk

Community insecurity• Community also broke after the Fukushima

incident• EvacuationoCannot start their business againo In some area, people cannot entero It is hard to create a new community in

the temporary housing

CYNTHIA

• Case Studies:oChernobyloFukushima

Chernobyl Disaster

• Nuclear power plant accident on April 26, 1986 in the Ukraine• Explosion of the core reactor during a

planned power reduction• Scattering of radioactive materials led to

the graphite moderator catching fire

Radiation• Radioactive materials spread to the

western Soviet Union and Eastern Europe• The Ukraine, Belarus, Russia were most

contaminated• High radioactivity levelo 350,000 people to be evacuated to other

locations

Contamination

• The smoke from the explosion contained radioactive materials• Particles in the atmosphere rose up the

cloudso Black Rain

• High Iodine, Cesium, Strontium levels in surrounding regions of water

Thyroid Cancer

• 31 firemen and rescue workers of the disaster passed away due to radiation exposure• Post-disaster: 6000 children and

adolescents developed thyroid cancer• 4000 out of 5 million in contaminated

regions have already died from thyroid cancer

Deformities• Farmers in the Ukraine have claimed that

350 animals were born with deformitieso Extra limbs, missing body parts and bones, deformed

skulls

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

• After the Tohoku earthquake on March 11, 2011, the following tsunami hit the nuclear power plant• The core reactor shutdown, but the cooling

system failed→ meltdown of three reactors• Fixed radiation zones

→ 156,000 people displaced

Food and Health • World Health Organization estimated:o Population of Fukushima prefecture have a

higher risk of developing cancero Girls exposed as infants have 70% higher

chance of thyroid cancer• Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare:o High radioactivity in milk and vegetables

• Iinternational Atomic Energy Agency:o Tokyo’s drinking water exceeded safe level

Clean Up Process• Power plant is leaking radioactive water into the

Pacific Oceano Prime Minister Abe orders the government to

step in• Leakage of 300 tons of contaminated watero Emergency measure to prevent further leaks

• Decontamination process: building chemical underground wallso Can take decades and be costly

Cost of Disaster• August 2013

estimate: Japan will need $58.1 billion• The government

only has $10 billion

• Chernobyl and Fukushima case studies show strong influences in:oEnvironmental Security: Black rain and

leakageoHealth Security: Cancer and Deformitieso Food Security: Contaminated and

uneidbleo Personal Security: displacementoEconomic Security: expensive

decontamination

YUSUKE• Alternative Energy

• Conclusion

2010 2011 2012 20130%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

28.6

10.71.7 1

25

2527.6 30.3

29.3

39.542.5 43.2

7.514.4 18.3 14.9

8.5 9 8.4 8.51.1 1.4 1.6 2.2

The Ratio of Power Generation

Geothermal & etc.HydroelectricityPetroleum & etc.LNGCoalNuclear energy

• By shutting down reactors:o Increase in

undersupply by strongly relying on thermal power generation

o Causing a great increase in CO2 emission

o Losing an important “baseload electricity source”

Innovative Energy&

Environmental Strategy

Innovative Energy &

Environmental Strategy

• Aiming for 0 nuclear reactors in 2030

• “This innovation not only substitutes nuclear reactors to renewable energies, but also constructs a new structure that every single citizens becomes discrete power plant stations instead of passive consumers of electricity”o Diffusion of solar power

and storage battery to ordinary households

• Issue #1: Unavoidable strong dependence on ME• Issue #2: Preparation of additional facilities for

renewable energy

2030

2010

0% 10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

26

12

8

23

2

21

24

38

29

6

10 Nuclear energyHydroelectric-ityRenewable energyCoalLNGPetroleum

Geothermal Power Generation

• Plenty of resources; the 3rd biggest resource in the worldoNot used frequently: standing 8th in the

world in regard to the installed capacityoCovers only 0.3% of total electric energy

in JapanoResearch has been stagnated since

2003 until 3.11

• Economic efficiency

• Influence to the government

• Coexistence with local people

Conclusion• Nuclear power plant violates all 7 insecurities directly and

interrelatedly to extreme points, if there is no nuclear plants, we can finally be free from fear and threat.

• These case studies of Chernobyl and Fukushima indicate the negative influences of the use of nuclear energy. They threaten the human security in various aspects; therefore, it would be dangerous for Japan to continue it's use.

• In order to free Japan from fear and threat, it is necessary to discover a possible baseload electricity source, replacing from nuclear power to alternative energies such as geothermal power, in practical timescale.

THE END

INTERMEDIATE SEMINAR

PAUL BACON

JULY 17, 2014