New
York Times: Japan's government is currently weighing its
options with regard to nuclear power. Over the year and a half
since the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake that forced the
closing of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, all of the country's
50-plus reactors have been shut down. Now the government is
considering whether to restart the reactors and run them until
2030, when they would have reached their 40-year life span and
been decommissioned anyway. Because the country depended on
nuclear power for 30% of its electrical needs, not restarting
the reactors could prove to be an economic hardship for many
companies and force some out of business. Fuel imports and
greenhouse gas emissions have surged. However, the general
public is strongly opposed to nuclear power, and with elections
coming up, many public officials are starting to favor the
development of alternative energy sources, such as renewables,
instead.
