Japan’s nuclear plans need shifting out of ice age

Chubu Electric Power

14/09/2026 06:50

    (The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The
opinions expressed are his own.)
    By Hudson Lockett
       HONG KONG, Sept 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - A simple
way to both improve Japan's energy security as well as charge up
the pace of its energy transition is staring Prime Minister
Sanae Takaichi in the face. Fossil fuels, most of them imported,
account for some 80% of the country’s power sources. The
disruption to oil and gas supplies courtesy of the U.S.-Israeli
attack on Iran has proven that a costly strategy, with the value
of those brought into the country in July up 88% from a year
ago. Yet the glacial pace of restarting nuclear reactors has
left more than a dozen of them languishing unused. It would take
just a sliver of Takaichi's unprecedented $2 trillion investment
plan to get them up and running. It's time she grasped the
opportunity.
    Japan shut down all 54 of its reactors after the 2011
Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Only half of the 33 still operable
have been brought back online and account for roughly 10% of
electricity production. A longstanding official target to double
that by 2030 is impossible at the current pace of
recommissioning. The Renewable Energy Institute estimates Japan
can hit 20% by 2040, but only if the dormant power stations are
switched on at a much faster clip.
    A big obstacle is the up to $1 billion cost to utilities of
bringing each reactor back online, per World Nuclear Association
estimates. Takaichi’s administration has helped clear the path
this year with reforms allowing public financing for loans to
renewable and nuclear energy projects.
    Basic maths suggest full up-front financing of remaining
restarts is eminently affordable: even at $1 billion a pop,
loans for the next 15-odd reactivations would be less than the
$20 billion Takaichi’s government set aside in May to cap
domestic fuel costs. And unlike the cash burned on those
subsidies, the loans will be paid back with interest.
    Regulatory roadblocks have also piled up, with some restarts
abandoned or delayed as labour shortages hindered construction
of mandatory security features. Japan’s nuclear watchdog has
eased deadlines, preventing one shutdown, but a larger foreign
workforce is needed to hasten building of seawalls and other
infrastructure mandated after the Fukushima disaster.
    Recent reforms extending the permitted operating lifetime
for reactors and plans to rebuild ageing plants will help
prevent a sharp drop-off in output. Such relaxations must be
balanced with holding firms to account for governance failures
like those at Chubu Electric Power  9502.T , which Nikkei
reports, plans to replace its president and withdraw requests
for pre-restart inspections following revelations it tampered
with seismic data used to assess plant safety.
    But power demand is still growing thanks to increasing
numbers of electric vehicles and plans for new data centres.
Restarting existing facilities can also help mitigate lags in
Japan's renewables buildout.
    Some cost overruns will be inevitable, but the consequences
of not capitalising on Japan’s nuclear potential have already
arrived. The cost of solving that problem, by comparison, would
be a drop in the $2 trillion bucket.
    Follow Hudson Lockett on Bluesky and X.
     
    CONTEXT NEWS
    Japanese imports hit a monthly record of 12.1 trillion yen
($79 billion) in July, official data released on August 20
showed, as the value of crude oil purchases jumped 88% from a
year ago thanks to elevated prices and larger shipments from the
United States.

    <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
    (Editing by Antony Currie; Production by Ujjaini Dutta)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  LOCKETT/  mailto:hudson.lockett@thomsonreuters.com))