Learn from Fukushima, RP, other emerging nuke energy countries told

A Japanese disaster management expert has warned countries, including the Philippines, that are considering turning to atomic power as an alternative source of energy to carefully study this option and to heed the fatal lessons of Japan’s nuclear disaster when a huge earthquake and tsunami struck the country a year ago.

Japanese envoy Hatsuhita Takashima, former Foreign Ministry Press Secretary and chief commentator and director-general of Japan’s public network NHK News, said while he is not totally discouraging countries from using nuclear power, “necessary safety precautions and transparency” must be in place before starting such energy program.

“Nuclear power itself is still needed by many countries and nuclear power have to be used by those countries. But in order to do that, the lesson have to be learned carefully from this accident,” Takashima told a select group of reporters in Manila over the weekend.

Asked by the Tribune on the efforts by some Filipino lawmakers to revive the long-mothballed Bataan nuclear plant near Manila as a solution to rising electricity rates, Takashima said the Philippines should ensure that the facility is “safe enough to re-open.”

“That sort of effort is very much necessary and without that, the government and power companies cannot convince people that the power plant has to be opened or can re-start its operation,” Takashima said.

The March 11, 2011 9.0-magnitude earthquake and deadly tsunami in Japan has set off a radiation crisis that shattered public trust on atomic energy, prompting nuclear-reliant states such as Germany and France to review their respective energy programs. Germany announced that it will give up nuclear energy and close all plants by 2022.

Japan, an ultra-modern and safety-obsessed Asian country, still catastrophically failed to prevent, prepare for and efficiently manage the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster.

The country has 54 nuclear reactors, supplying a third of the country’s power needs, but only two remain in operation. Under Japanese laws, reactors should undergo routine checks every 13 months, where maintenance works last at least four months, but operators cannot re-start them due to strong opposition from local residents, traumatized by the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant.

Takashima said the two reactors would soon go off-line for scheduled check-up and like all the other plants, may also be temporarily shut down amid public opposition. The question now, he said, is how to make up for the electricity shortfall.

There are few alternatives to replace the 30 percent of energy that will be lost when all reactors are shuttered, Takashima said.

Japan, he said, has survived power outages, mainly due to an energy consumption drive.

“But those efforts are maximized already and there is very small room for additional saving,” Takashima said, fearing that with the onset of summer, Japan could face an energy crisis.

“You have to have life without electricity and that will have a lot of inconvenience in people’s life,” he said.

Takashima said Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda vowed to prevent a power cutoff this summer as he promised not to re-activate the nuclear reactors without consulting local residents.

Takashima also said the loss of nuclear energy had also taken its toll on Japanese industries. Many companies, he said, were forced to relocate their factories to other countries.

“Although the people’s sentiment is still very much against the nuclear power, still the industry is screaming for very stable electricity supply,” he said.

Takashima added he supports a gradual phase-out of nuclear power, warning that, “sudden abandonment of nuclear power will cause lots of trouble” as it would hurt the country’s economy.

“Phasing out will be most feasible way to do,” he said. –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune