Fukui Governor Calls for Clarification of Nuclear’s Position

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At a regular press conference on May 20, Governor Tatsuji Sugimoto of Fukui Prefecture, referring to the next Strategic Energy Plan—the issuance of which the Japanese government is now working toward—asked for clarification of the positioning of nuclear power.

Given that Fukui Prefecture is home to a large number of nuclear power plants (NPPs), said the “picture” Japan sees of its energy future “should be clearly drawn.”

The governor is a member of the Strategic Policy Committee, under the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy. Citing discussions at the committee, he said that 100% use of renewable energies had been proposed, but that it had become clear that costs would be “explosively higher.”

He then said that many committee members see the utilization of nuclear power as a means toward achieving carbon neutrality.

Without expressing his own view on new nuclear builds, he said that he definitely wanted improvements to nuclear safety. If the greater use of nuclear power is in fact to be the national direction, he then asked—from the perspective of a siting prefecture—that safety be incorporated into all discussions.