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| 1 |
ID:
110348
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
"Energy Security" has typically, to those involved in making energy policy, meant mostly securing access to oil and other fossil fuels. With increasingly global, diverse energy markets, however, and increasingly transnational problems resulting from energy transformation and use, old energy security rationales are less salient, and other issues, including climate change and other environmental, economic, and international considerations are becoming increasingly important. As a consequence, a more comprehensive operating definition of "Energy Security" is needed, along with a workable framework for analysis of which future energy paths or scenarios are likely to yield greater Energy Security in a broader, more comprehensive sense. Work done as a part of the Nautilus Institute's "Pacific Asia Regional Energy Security" (PARES) project developed a broader definition of Energy Security, and described an analytical framework designed to help to compare the energy security characteristics - both positive and negative - of different quantitative energy paths as developed using software tools such as the LEAP (Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning) system.
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| 2 |
ID:
089168
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2009.
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This paper reviews the history, status, and probable future of fast reactor and associated fuel cycle development in Japan. The fast breeder reactor and its closed fuel cycle have been the cornerstone of Japan's nuclear-energy development program since the 1950s. For economic, technological, and political reasons, Japan's development and implementation of these technologies is significantly delayed. The budget for fast breeder reactor development has steadily declined since the mid-1990s, and its commercialization target has slipped from the 1980s to the 2050s. An accident at the Monju prototype reactor contributed to delays and triggered a fundamental shift from R&D and early commercialization to an emphasis on advanced fuel cycles.
Nevertheless, Japan is still committed to fast-reactor development. This paper examines the motivation for its continued commitment to a fast reactor program and concludes that several non-technological factors, such as bureaucratic inertia, commitments to local communities, and an absence of R&D oversight, have contributed to this entrenched position. Japan is currently reorganizing its R&D programs with the goal of operating a demonstration breeder reactor by approximately 2025. This effort is in response to the government sponsored "Nuclear Power Nation Plan" and the Bush Administration's Global Nuclear Energy Partnership. Breeder R&D programs face significant obstacles such as plutonium-stockpile management, spent fuel management, fuel cycle technologies, and arrangements for cost and risk sharing between government, industry and local governments. As a result, it is unlikely that fast breeder reactor (FBR) and fuel cycle development programs will move forward as planned.
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| 3 |
ID:
110350
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
As the world's third leading economy and a major importer of fuels, the choice of future energy paths and policies that Japan makes in the next few years will have a significant influence on the energy security of the world as a whole, and of the Northeast Asia region in particular. In this article we describe the current status of and recent trends in the Japanese energy sector, including energy demand and supply by fuel and by sector. We then discuss the current energy policy situation in Japan, focusing on policies related to climate change targets, renewable energy development and deployment, liberalization of energy markets, and the evolution of the Japanese nuclear power sector. The final section of the article presents the structure of the Japan LEAP (long-range energy alternatives planning software system) dataset, describes several alternative energy paths for Japan - with an emphasis on alternative paths for nuclear power development and GHG emission abatement - and touches upon key current issues of energy policy facing Japan, as reflected in the modeling inputs and results.
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| 4 |
ID:
110357
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2011.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Japan's commitment to plutonium recycling has been explicitly stated in its long-term program since 1956. Despite the clear cost disadvantage compared with direct disposal or storage of spent fuel, the Rokkasho reprocessing plant started active testing in 2006. Japan's cumulative consumption of plutonium has been only 5 tons to date and its future consumption rate is still uncertain. But once the Rokkasho reprocessing plant starts its full operation, Japan will separate about 8 tons of plutonium annually. Our analysis shows that, with optimum use of available at-reactor and away-from-reactor storage capacity, there would be no need for reprocessing until the mid-2020s. With an additional 30,000 tons of away-from-reactor (AFR) spent-fuel storage capacity reprocessing could be avoided until 2050. Deferring operation of the Rokkasho plant, at least until the plutonium stockpile had been worked down to the minimum required level, would also minimize international concern about Japan's plutonium stockpile. The authors are happy to acknowledge Frank von Hippel, Harold Feiveson, Jungming Kang, Zia Mian, M.V. Ramana, and other IPFM members, as well as the generous grant from the MacArthur Foundation for helping make this research possible.
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| 5 |
ID:
142009
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The 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident has become a turning point for Japan, creating loss of public trust not only in nuclear safety but in overall energy policy. More than 80 percent of the public wants to phase out nuclear power eventually. On April 11, 2014, the Japanese government adopted a new National Energy Strategy that declares its intention to reduce dependence on nuclear energy while considering it one of the important base-load electricity sources. Regardless of the future of nuclear energy, Japan needs to face five key policy issues: spent fuel management, plutonium stockpile management, radioactive waste disposal, human resources management, and restoration of public trust. I discuss these critical issues and possible policy alternatives that Japan should pursue.
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