Japan to consider allowing nuclear plant expansions
Nuclear plants are still a sensitive issue in Japan after the Fukushima nuclear disaster
Japan's economy ministry is considering allowing the expansion of nuclear plants as older ones are being decommissioned, according to the Asahi newspaper.
The permission would likely be part of revisions to Japan's national energy strategy, which is reviewed every three years, the paper reported, without saying where it got the information. The revision is expected to include a provision allowing power companies that are decommissioning nuclear plants to build new reactors at existing nuclear power plants, according to the Asahi.
The revised energy strategy is expected to frame the change as "replacing" nuclear plants, and the number of plants will not increase, according to the report.
Nuclear plants are still a politically sensitive issue in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The current version of the national energy strategy says that Japan will reduce dependency on nuclear as much as possible.
Japan has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 46% by 2030 and become carbon neutral by the middle of this century.