Problems and Prospects of Development of Nuclear Energy in Japan

The Fukushima disaster in 2011 temporarily changed Japan's priorities and increased criticism of nuclear power. However, since its long-term abandonment has caused serious losses in the country's energy security, and it is clear that despite the Japanese public's fear of nuclear disasters, the Japanese government is slowly and carefully putting nuclear power back on Japan's energy development agenda. This became especially noticeable in the actions of the Cabinet of Fumio Kishida, as well as the current Japanese government, which continued the course towards "revival" of nuclear energy. Even according to the most pessimistic scenario of the World Nuclear Association, by 2040 it is planned to increase the global capacity of nuclear power plants to 486 GW, which is 24 % more than in 2023. According to the basic and optimistic scenarios, growth is expected to be 75 % and 138 %, respectively. Such prospects suggest that the era of nuclear energy is far from over. 10 EU countries, including Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland, France, Croatia and the Czech Republic, have proposed officially including nuclear energy in the list of areas for green investments, which, in their opinion, will allow to abandon imported energy supplies. In February 2024, the Council of EU Member States and the European Parliament, after lengthy negotiations in Brussels on the Zero Emissions Industry Act (NZIA), agreed to declare nuclear energy a strategic technology for the decarbonization of the EU. How is Japan planning to integrate into this trend? What is the reason for the expected shift in the country's energy balance in favor of nuclear energy? How does this correspond to the tasks of ensuring its energy security? How has the role of nuclear power changed in the context of Japan's energy transition? In this article, the authors have attempted to answer these questions.