Japan announces plan to abandon nuclear power by 2040

Target pressures of society since the Fukushima disaster the Japanese government announced that shut down its nuclear reactors in the coming decades. Country not specified when exactly will be achieved. A year and half after the disaster at Fukushima, Japan announced that it will give up nuclear energy over the next three decades. In ministerial meeting on Friday (14/09), came to the decision to abandon this energy source in the "decade of 2030", Japanese media reported. The ambitious goal of the government in Tokyo would mean a cut of the total use of nuclear energy by 2040. Then, the reactors that until the disaster in 2011 produced about one-third of the energy consumed in the country, would be permanently disabled. The Fukushima nuclear accident has shaken public confidence in the safety of nuclear power. In recent surveys, most Japanese declared in favor of ending the use of wind energy in the country.Given the general elections scheduled for the coming months, the topic has been the subject of protests, gathering up tens of thousands of people. "Many Japanese hope to build a society that does not depend on nuclear power. Moreover, it is also clear that opinions are divided on exactly when and how a company such can be achieved," a government statement said on Friday. The plan announced by Japan aligns with Germany, which promised to shut down all its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022. The European country is said ready to support Japan in its endeavor. "This is a complex task, on which we report our own experience, if so ordered," said the spokesman of the German government, Steffen Seibert, said Friday. 

Criticized

Besides not having been specified exactly when the goal will be achieved by Japan's announcement on Friday is not mandatory for future governments, which means that a new administration could reverse the plans. Furthermore, many critics see a Japan without nuclear power as something unreal and warn that abandoning this energy source could have serious consequences for the world's third largest economy. Greenpeace has welcomed the new policy, but with caution. According to the environmental organization, the abandonment of nuclear energy should occur in a shorter period, along with the development of renewable solutions. The timeline for decades by Japan is unnecessary, since 48 of the 50 Japanese reactors were shut down following the crisis at Fukushima, Greenpeace believes. The powerful Japanese business lobby pushed for the reactivation of the reactor, fearing cuts and rising energy prices. Last week, the Democratic Party of Japan - the Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda - recommended that the country expand the use of renewable energy and adopt more energy-saving measures. The country now depends heavily on oil from the Middle East and was forced to raise imports to compensate for the energy deficit from the Fukushima accident.