Japan’s Shift Toward Renewable Energy in Response to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Meltdown

Abstract

Before the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 and the ensuing Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant meltdown, Japan ran fifty-four nuclear reactors and planned a future increase of thirty to fifty percent.1 Almost one-third of the nation’s electricity came from nuclear power,2 but people thought little of the source. By March 2012, only two reactors were online and all plans to build more were scrapped in response to massive public outcry over the safety of nuclear power. In a country with no cross-border energy grid and almost no fossil fuels, the removal of nuclear power meant extensive fuel importation at high cost and dependence. The only remaining alternative is domestically available renewable energy. Japan has enough renewables to meet all its energy needs, and experts anticipate that up to seventy percent can be from renewable sources by 2030. The government and industries have invested heavily in nuclear energy and are resisting change, but the mob has spoken and the phasing-out of nuclear power is all but certain.