Sakurajima Volcano Alert Leads to Evacuation Advisories in Japan

However, Kyushu Electric spokesman Tomomitsu Sakata said that the warning had not impacted on operations at the Sendai plant.

A U.S. plan to cut carbon emissions from power plants may support new reactors and the restart of a Kyushu Electric Power Co. plant this week is highlighting a drive to get more atomic stations online in Japan. The last power unit in the country was shut down in September 2013.

What are a number of the challenges of restarting a nuclear reactor after a protracted shutdown?

Critics of the nuclear industry say that new safety measures are insufficient, particularly for plants such as Sendai, which is located near five giant calderas, crater-like depressions formed by past eruptions, with the closest one about 40 km away. In fact, the U.S. Department of Commerce expects over $740 billion will be invested in the construction of new nuclear reactors.

What steps have been taken to improve safety at Japan’s nuclear sites in the wake of Fukushima?

Additionally, Cameco will benefit from its long-term supply agreement with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding, or CGNPC, to supply 29 million pounds of uranium concentrate under a long-term agreement through 2025. However, from an economic point of view, NPP re-launch was only a matter of time: decline of trade balance caused by need to procure high-priced utility products would return to this point sooner or later anyway.

Waterborne imports underscore the trend we are seeing in oil consumption. A second reactor on the Kyushu energy plant might come again on-line this fall. Despite negative public attitude against nuclear program, Japan still will have to make a choice in favor of its own economy. The recovery of nuclear power system should ultimately lead to higher electricity generation in the country. As a lethal weapon, humanity has handled it well; as a source of power for all other purposes, we seem to have made a complete hash of it. “However given the power of well-liked opposition, it gained’t be straightforward to restart so many different crops as if nothing occurred”. And after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, it has only grown in stature as the largest global consumer of LNG. Two factors affected on this decision-making. “It’s liquid, well known and is in the kind of places where you probably want to be” – Canada, Kazakhstan, the U.S. and Australia. The hourly number of tremors recorded had also fallen to under 10. “And that’s a very hard thing to achieve in a few years”. Most experts doubt Japan will build any new nuclear plants, and as aging reactors are taken offline, the industry may be phased out.

The growth in fuel costs has resulted in a 25 per cent increase in home electricity charges and a 38 per cent hike in electricity bills for industrial use, compared with pre-earthquake levels.

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An evacuation plan in the event of a nuclear accident is also important.