RSS Feed

Calendar

March 2024
M T W T F S S
« Feb    
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Search

Tag Cloud

Archives

Wall Street Journal (August 26)

2022/ 08/ 28 by jd in Global News

“Energy common sense is in short supply these days, so all the more reason to cheer Japan for rethinking its flight from nuclear power.” Germany is currently debating whether to keep “its three remaining reactors online. Maybe Japan’s decision will prove compelling. “This should be an easy call as natural gas shortages loom this winter. Advanced economies need reliable base load power, and at least Tokyo understands this.”

 

The Economist (March 6)

2021/ 03/ 08 by jd in Global News

“Though understandable,” the knee-jerk reaction following the Fukushima disaster “was wrong.” Nuclear power has numerous drawbacks, but “well-regulated nuclear power is safe” and essential given the climate crisis. Nuclear provides constant generating capacity to support a reliable grid. Furthermore, “nuclear provides such capacity with no ongoing emissions, and it is doing so safely and at scale around the world.”

 

Taipei Times (February 8)

2018/ 02/ 10 by jd in Global News

“Tuesday night’s earthquake off the coast of Hualien County has again raised the issue of human fragility in the face of the power of nature and how the geological conditions that exist in Taiwan need to be respected.” Although “nuclear power is a relatively clean source of energy,” any benefits “could be wiped out overnight should a nuclear disaster happen, especially given the proximity of two of the three operational plants to the capital and within the nation’s most-populated area.”

 

Washington Post (August 20)

2015/ 08/ 21 by jd in Global News

“If you care about climate change or air pollution, you cannot casually write off nuclear power, which produces virtually no carbon dioxide emissions while generating a tremendous amount of reliable power.” Renewables simply can’t fill the gap quickly enough. Without nuclear, burning additional fossil fuel is the alternative. “No one concerned about climate change should be willing to take it off the table…. The right response to Fukushima is to make sure reactors meet high safety standards, not to make the fight against global warming much harder.”

 

Wall Street Journal (November 21, 2013)

2013/ 11/ 21 by jd in Global News

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe helped his plans to achieve economic revival “by abandoning Tokyo’s 2009 pledge to reduce the country’s carbon emissions by 25% from 1990 levels by 2020.” With the reduction in nuclear power, the old targets had been looking increasingly unattainable. “Japan is not going to become the Worst Polluter in the World as a result of this announcement. Instead, it will be a country that is striking a smarter balance between the uncertainty of global-warming predictions and current economic reality.”

 

Financial Times (May 31)

2011/ 06/ 02 by jd in Global News

Following Fukushima, Germany decided to close its nuclear power plants by 2036. The deadline has now been moved up to 2022. The 17 plants slated for closure generate a quarter of Germany’s supply. To offset this loss, “Angela Merkel committed Germany to doubling the amount of electricity from renewable sources to 35% this decade.”

 

[archive]