Opposition to nuclear energy grows in Japan

Opinion polls show the Japanese people oppose nuclear plants going back into operation. It underlines the scale of the problem facing the government in convincing everyone that it's safe. Julian Ryall reports from Tokyo.

Deutsche Welle, 21 Oct 2016

Before October 16, Ryuichi Yoneyama had contested four regional elections and been soundly beaten each time. Now, however, the 49-year-old qualified doctor and lawyer is to be sworn in as governor of Niigata Prefecture after defeating a candidate who had the backing of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and was considered the firm favorite.

Yoneyama worked hard for his victory over Tamio Mori, a former bureaucrat with the construction ministry, but when the voters stepped into the voting booths there was a single issue that occupied their minds.

Mori and the LDP want to restart the world's largest nuclear power station, the sprawling Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which lies on the prefecture's coast. They insist that as Japan moves towards the sixth anniversary of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, triggering the second-worst nuclear crisis in history, new safety measures have been implemented that ensure the same thing could not happen in Niigata.

The voters did not agree, with 528,455 supporting Yoneyama's pledge to not grant approval for Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant to be restarted. In comparison, 465,044 voted for Mori.

Nationwide opposition

Those figures are broadly replicated across Japan, with a poll conducted by the Asahi Shimbun newspaper on October 15 and 16 determining that 57 percent of the public is against the nation's nuclear power plants being restarted, and just 29 percent supporting the resumption of reactors that have nearly all been mothballed since 2011.

At present, only two of the nation's 54 reactors have been restarted - and that after much wrangling through the courts after local residents and environmental groups expressed their opposition.

Nevertheless, a report issued by the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan (IEEJ) in July predicts that seven additional reactors will be on-line by the end of March next year and a further 12 will be operational one year later.

But as the opinion polls show, the majority of the public is against a policy that the government tells them is in the nation's best interests.

Poll: 57 percent of the public is against the nuclear power plants being restarted

"Since the accident at Fukushima, many people have realized the negatives that go along with the positives of nuclear power, and they simply do not want to take that sort of risk again," said Hiroko Moriwaki, a librarian who lives in Tokyo.

"And many think that we do not need to," she added. "Since the disaster, the reactors have not been operational and look around you; we have all the electricity that we need, there are no blackouts and everything is normal.

"Just after the earthquake, we were told to do everything we could to save energy, but not any more," Moriwaki told DW.

"So maybe we have reached the point where we don't actually need nuclear energy and that this is in fact an opportunity that the country can take advantage of," she said.

Japan is an advanced and industrialized nation with vast amounts of skills and technologies that could be put to use to develop and then commercialize new sources of safe, environment-friendly energy, she said.

As well as solar and wind power, which are already visible across Japan, there are moves afoot to harness Japan's tidal and wave energy, while vast amounts of potential geothermal energy remain virtually untapped.

"We have so much technology, so wouldn't it be best to divert some of that away from more investment in nuclear energy and put it into fuel sources that are safer and do not harm the environment at all?" Moriwaki asked.

The government says Japanese
 industry needs a secure supply
of energy

Japan's energy needs

Critics of this approach - of which the government is one - say Japanese industry needs a secure supply of energy right now and that Japan is presently importing 84 percent of its energy needs, primarily in the form of coal, gas and oil. And that is both expensive and to blame for the nation's emissions of carbon dioxide and other harmful greenhouse gases climbing.

Still, the Japanese public is far from convinced that nuclear energy is the answer.

"It's complicated and we keep hearing from the government how important it is to have the nuclear plants operating again, but after Fukushima, I think, a lot of people no longer trust the operators or the government," said Kanako Hosomura, a housewife whose family home is north of Tokyo and only about 250 km from the Fukushima plant.

Inquiries after the disaster revealed that TEPCO ignored experts' warnings about the potential size and power of tsunami and had failed to take precautions such as ensuring a backup power supply in the event the generators used to cool the reactors were out of operation.

The government also came under fire after the media reported that it did not have a full understanding of the severity of the crisis, while it was also issuing statements that the situation was completely under control at the same time as drawing up plans to evacuate tens of millions of people from a huge swathe of eastern Japan.

"When it comes down to it, I have a young son and a family and their safety is my number one priority," said Hosomura. "Maybe Japan was lucky the Fukushima disaster was not worse than it was. Maybe next time we will not be so lucky."

Map showing Japan's nuclear plants (AFP Photo)

Related Articles:

Japan orders shutdown of two nuclear reactors over safety fears

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“... Japan

Let us talk for a moment about Japan, and then I'll close the day of messages. There are thousands of souls on my side of the veil and they're just fine, more than fine. We have spoken so often of what happens at the Wind of Birth. I told you, before they even came in, they saw the potential. I looked in their eyes. "You may not last long. You know that, don't you? You're coming into this planet and you may not be here very long. And the passing that you will have with your family will not be pleasant, if any ever are. Why would you come in anyway?" I want to tell you what they said. When a soul has the mind of God, it understands fully what generates peace and what generates energy shift. You can clearly see what generates what the planet needs the most when you are about to arrive. So they said, "We're going to be part of one of the biggest compassion events the planet has ever seen." One earthquake, one tsunami. All of those who left that day will change the earth forever. And it already has. It was the same for the last tsunami as well.

Every single one of them on my side of the veil is getting ready to come back. Many old souls were involved, and just for a moment, if they could give you any information, if they could talk to you right now, if they could speak your language and look into your eyes, they would thank you for your compassion for them and those who are left. And they would say, "Be with those family members who are still alive. Enter their hearts every day and give them peace and keep them from crying, because we're OK."

Nuclear Power Revealed

So let me tell you what else they did. They just showed you what's wrong with nuclear power. "Safe to the maximum," they said. "Our devices are strong and cannot fail." But they did. They are no match for Gaia.

It seems that for more than 20 years, every single time we sit in the chair and speak of electric power, we tell you that hundreds of thousands of tons of push/pull energy on a regular schedule is available to you. It is moon-driven, forever. It can make all of the electricity for all of the cities on your planet, no matter how much you use. There's no environmental impact at all. Use the power of the tides, the oceans, the waves in clever ways. Use them in a bigger way than any designer has ever put together yet, to power your cities. The largest cities on your planet are on the coasts, and that's where the power source is. Hydro is the answer. It's not dangerous. You've ignored it because it seems harder to engineer and it's not in a controlled environment. Yet, you've chosen to build one of the most complex and dangerous steam engines on Earth - nuclear power.

We also have indicated that all you have to do is dig down deep enough and the planet will give you heat. It's right below the surface, not too far away all the time. You'll have a Gaia steam engine that way, too. There's no danger at all and you don't have to dig that far. All you have to do is heat fluid, and there are some fluids that boil far faster than water. So we say it again and again. Maybe this will show you what's wrong with what you've been doing, and this will turn the attitudes of your science to create something so beautiful and so powerful for your grandchildren. Why do you think you were given the moon? Now you know.

This benevolent Universe gave you an astral body that allows the waters in your ocean to push and pull and push on the most regular schedule of anything you know of. Yet there you sit enjoying just looking at it instead of using it. It could be enormous, free energy forever, ready to be converted when you design the methods of capturing it. It's time.

So in closing, do you understand what you're seeing? You're seeing intelligent design, quantum energy and high consciousness. You are seeing changes in Human nature. You're seeing countries putting things together instead of separating. You are seeing those who don't want war and instead want peace, good schools for their children, safety in their streets and a say in their government. We told you it was going to happen this way. I want my partner to teach these things that I have said in his 3D lectures for awhile. Many won't be able to know these things otherwise.  …”

Welsh tidal lagoon project could open way for £15bn revolution in UK energy

A prototype system of dams and turbines in Swansea Bay could provide Britain with a major zero-carbon source of power

The Guardian, Robin McKie Science Editor, Saturday 8 October 2016

An artist’s impression of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon scheme.
Photograph: Tidal Lagoon Power/PA

Backers of an ambitious proposal to transform the UK’s power supply will learn in the next few weeks if they are to be given the go-ahead to build tidal lagoons to generate electricity. The green light could see a series of major lagoon projects costing more than £15bn being constructed around the coast of Britain.

A tidal lagoon generates electricity from the natural rise and fall of the tides. Rising water flows into dams many miles in length, driving turbines. It is then held back behind walls as the tide recedes before being released to drive the turbines again, generating thousands of megawatts of power.

A prototype is set for construction in Swansea Bay in the next few years – but only if it is given the go-ahead by a government review of tidal lagoon technology, chaired by the former energy minister Charles Hendry, which is scheduled to release its recommendation early next month. 

Green energy experts believe Hendry will give approval, although it remains to be seen if tidal lagoon technology – which was backed strongly by the former chancellor George Osborne in the last Conservative manifesto – finds favour with Theresa May’s administration.

Mark Shorrock, chief executive of Tidal Power Lagoon, the backer of the Swansea Bay prototype lagoon, said the technology could be an important zero-carbon source of electricity generation for the UK. “In addition, the money to build tidal lagoons will come from British investors and the expertise and technology we develop could be sold around the world,” he said. Tidal lagoons could also provide much of the power needed to make up for the predicted shortfall in UK energy that will be caused by the phasing out of coal plants and ageing nuclear reactors over the next decade, he added.

Six major projects have been earmarked for construction: a prototype at Swansea Bay; and then full-size lagoons at Cardiff, Newport, Colwyn Bay, Bridgwater Bay and west Cumbria. “The crucial point about tidal lagoons is that their power generation is not subject to the vagaries of the weather. It is predictable. We know exactly when every high tide will be for years ahead. In addition, the lagoons will be built to last – for about 120 years,” Shorrock said.

The £1.3bn Swansea Bay prototype has been designed to generate 350 megawatts of power – enough to supply 150,000 homes with electricity – and could be in operation by 2019. About 11 square kilometres of the bay would be surrounded by a 9km wall. Cycle paths would be built on the walls and a sailing and canoeing centre would be set up inside the lagoon.

Tides would sweep water into the lagoon and drive an array of 16 turbines, generating electricity. Then, after high tide has passed, the stored water would be released to pour back out of the lagoon to drive the turbines in the opposite direction – and generate more electricity. Shorrock claims the lagoon would be able to produce power for about 14 hours a day.

The £1.3bn Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project consists of an 9km sea wall 

and an array of 16 dual-directional turbines, designed to harness the 

energy of the Atlantic’s tidal surges

As the tides rise and fall the lagoon fills and empties. Regardless

 of the direction of the flow, the six-metre tall turbines will generate electricity

Swansea Bay electricity would cost around £89.90 per megawatt hour, he added, compared with the £92.50 per megawatt hour price predicted for electricity from the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant. “However, when we scale up operations with the Cardiff lagoon – which will have 10 times the generating capacity of Swansea – we will be able to produce power for £65 a megawatt hour,” he said.

The Cardiff lagoon would cost £9bn to construct and contain 65 square kilometres of water within a 20km wall. It would have a capacity of 3,000 megawatts of electricity – compared with the proposed 3,200 megawatts from Hinkley Point C.

A request for planning approval for the Cardiff lagoon is to be made by 2018 with the aim of establishing a manufacturing industry for lagoon components in the UK.

However, it is the speed of this follow-up that worries many green campaigners. Most back the idea of the Swansea Bay test project but some fear that construction of much larger follow-up schemes – starting in Cardiff Bay but going on to Colwyn and Bridgwater shortly after – could begin too soon to adopt any lessons that will be learned from construction of the prototype lagoon.

This point was stressed by Mark Robins, of the RSPB. “The Swansea tidal lagoon could prove to be very useful but we will have to monitor how the first prototype affects the movement of silt in the estuary, disrupts bird populations and impacts on fish stocks before we scale up. This is a completely new technology and it is going to be built in a very complicated natural site – the Severn estuary. We need to be very careful how we go.”

Richard Benwell, of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, agreed. “We are cautiously welcoming,” he said. “However, we would want the scheme’s impact to be very carefully monitored before building started on the next-generation lagoon at Cardiff.”

However, there is strong pressure from the scheme’s backers to instigate a speedy follow-up of the Swansea lagoon. They want to establish a supply chain for generators, turbines and other components to kick-start tidal technology in the UK, establish a series of major lagoon generators and eventually become the world leader in the field.

Some worry about the environmental dangers. Others stress the advantages for local economies around Wales and Liverpool where tidal lagoons are likely to be clustered.

“This could become a global industry that started in the UK yet was not linked to the EU,” said Jane Davidson, pro vice-chancellor at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and a former Welsh Assembly minister. “This could play a major role in subsidising low-income, lower-skills areas. It is something that, locally, we can pick up and run with.”

For its part, the UK climate change committee counselled caution in its report on renewable energy last year. “There may be a role for tidal lagoon power in providing predictable low-carbon electricity in the UK if projects can be delivered at acceptable cost. However, it is important that these proposals proceed with careful assessment of the potential environment impacts,” it warned.

Related Articles:

Tidal energy project kicks off in the Netherlands


"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“…  4 - Energy (again)

The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much.

Water

We've told you that one of the greatest natural resources of the planet, which is going to shift and change and be mysterious to you, is fresh water. It's going to be the next gold, dear ones. So, we have also given you some hints and examples and again we plead: Even before the potentials of running out of it, learn how to desalinate water in real time without heat. It's there, it's doable, and some already have it in the lab. This will create inexpensive fresh water for the planet.

There is a change of attitude that is starting to occur. Slowly you're starting to see it and the only thing getting in the way of it are those companies with the big money who currently have the old system. That's starting to change as well. For the big money always wants to invest in what it knows is coming next, but it wants to create what is coming next within the framework of what it has "on the shelf." What is on the shelf is oil, coal, dams, and non-renewable resource usage. It hasn't changed much in the last 100 years, has it? Now you will see a change of free choice. You're going to see decisions made in the boardrooms that would have curled the toes of those two generations ago. Now "the worst thing they could do" might become "the best thing they could do." That, dear ones, is a change of free choice concept. When the thinkers of tomorrow see options that were never options before, that is a shift. That was number four. ….”

Officials Begin Demolishing Overpass Billboards in Jakarta After Bridge Collapse

Jakarta Globe, Alin Almanar, October 08, 2016

Authorities have started to demolish unauthorized billboards on overpasses
across the capital after three people were killed when a pedestrian bridge in
Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, collapsed on Sept. 24. (Antara Photo/Yulius
Satria Wijaya

Jakarta. Authorities have started to demolish unauthorized billboards on overpasses across the capital after the recent collapse of a pedestrian bridge in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, sparked safety concerns.

Three people were killed in the incident, which was triggered by heavy rains and strong winds late last month, prompting Jakarta Governor Basuki Tjahaja Purnama to consider a ban on such billboards.

Officials from the Jakarta Transportation Office demolished two overpass billboards in Pasar Minggu and Kebayoran Lama in South Jakarta on Friday (07/10). The previous day, another one was demolished in Kalideres, West Jakarta.

"We demolished them gradually by closing parts of the roads. Vehicles can still pass under the parts we are not working on," Jakarta Transportation Office head Andri Yansyah said. "After this, we will demolish all overpass billboards across Jakarta that do not have permits and do not comply with the technical requirements."

Aside from considering a gubernatorial decree banning advertising agencies from installing billboards on overpasses, the Jakarta administration will also inspect all overpasses across the capital to determine whether they need repair.