Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
exempliied by a campaign waged by the government that involved sending
municipal workers dressed in white laboratory coats to speak authoritatively
at schools and community centers about the beneicial peaceful applications
of nuclear power.
10
Hundreds of newspaper articles heralding the beneits
of nuclear power appeared throughout the 1950s.
11
hese PR eforts cul-
minated on April 1, 1958 with the opening of the Grand Exhibition of the
Reconstruction of Hiroshima, which featured a pavilion dedicated to the
peaceful use of atomic energy (ironically housed in the newly built A-bomb
museum).
12
By 1958, a remarkable reversal of public opinion had taken
place in regard to nuclear power—with only 30% perceiving nuclear tech-
nology as harmful.
13
By the 1960s, Japan's ledgling nuclear power program had established
irreversible momentum. he ground was already being prepared for Japan's
irst commercial project and numerous R&D activities were under way,
including the construction of a demonstration reactor that would come
online in 1963.
14
In 1966, Japan's irst commercial nuclear power reactor
became operational. By the end of the 1970s, the nation already hosted
19 commercial nuclear power reactors and was spending over US$2 billion
per year on nuclear power R&D. he government would continue to chan-
nel at least US$2 billion per year into nuclear power research throughout
the 1980s, and over US$2.5 billion per year into nuclear power research
throughout the 1990s and beyond.
15
Political support for nuclear power in Japan has extended well beyond
R&D funding. he government has channeled billions into infrastructure
support projects including new state-of-the-art waste reprocessing facilities
in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture, which are scheduled to commence
operations in October 2014.
16
In terms of inancial support for siting nuclear
plants, the government has strategically targeted villages experiencing eco-
nomic decline and sweetened the appeal of hosting nuclear power plants by
ofering to bolster community infrastructure, build community centers, and
provide other social beneits.
17
he utilities which own and operate these
nuclear power plants provide similar incentives, including the annual provi-
sion of inancial support to community members for hosting the plants.
his brief summary of the history of nuclear power development in Japan
is necessary to understand wind power development because prior to the
Fukushima disaster, the nuclear power regime had established itself as an indis-
pensible and increasingly prominent component of the nation's electricity gen-
eration mix. It is a technology that has traditionally enjoyed full support of the
ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and Japan's 10 regional utilities, which
serve as gatekeepers to the nation's electricity grid. Moreover, the industry
has enjoyed beneit-of-the-doubt oversight—lax regulatory supervision that
