Japan:

Cabinet OKs New Energy Policy, Kills No-Nuclear Goal (The Japan Times)

(Courtesy CIA.gov)

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday officially abandoned the zero-nuclear goal of the previous administration by adopting a new basic energy policy that pledges to push for restarting the reactors idled in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns.

The new Basic Energy Plan, revised about every three years, is a clear departure from the zero-nuclear policy set by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government, which pledged to abolish all nuclear power plants by the 2030s.

The new plan, which sets policies for the next 20 years, described nuclear power as one of the key “base-load electricity sources,” a term the government uses to describe types that can stably generate power at a low cost 24 hours a day.

The new policy also says the government will “lower as much as possible” Japan’s dependency on nuclear power and push for the development of more renewable energies, including wind, geothermal heat and solar power, in particular over the next three years.

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