Statement Calling Once Again for the Adoption of Energy Policies Toward Denuclearization on the Occasion of the Approval of the Seventh Strategic Energy Plan
On February 18th, 2025, a Cabinet decision was made on Japan’s Seventh Strategic Energy Plan (the "Plan"). In the Plan, the phrase "the country’s dependence on nuclear power plants is to be reduced as much as possible" included in the Sixth Strategic Energy Plan issued in 2021 has been removed, while a new phrase "it is extremely important to maximize use of nuclear power" has been added. Furthermore, the Plan states that the proportion of nuclear power in the energy composition sources for Japan is to be approximately 20% in 2040 on the condition that all existing nuclear power plants and those currently under construction are in operation. In addition, according to the Plan, the government will not only explore ways to make active use of existing nuclear power plants but also proceed with detailed plans to rebuild such plants with the installation of new reactors and other improvements.
The Plan as above clearly signifies that the Japan’s energy policy is shifting back to nuclear power.
The government justified the changes by pointing out an increased demand for economic security, a possible increase in electricity demand, decarbonization and other changes in the situation affecting energy policies since the Sixth Strategic Energy Plan was formulated. However, considering the fact that Japan is an earthquake-prone country, the devastating magnitude of the damage caused by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident (hereinafter referred to as the "Fukushima nuclear accident") and other relevant facts, those changes highlighted by the government cannot justify Japan adopting an energy policy with increasing reliance on nuclear power as the country’s power source. Instead, the government should achieve decarbonization through active use of renewable energy.
Fourteen years have passed since Japan experienced the Fukushima nuclear accident. The damage caused by the accident still remains to this day. For example, many residents forced to evacuate have yet to return to the area. New regulatory requirements were set after the accident. However, the Nuclear Regulation Authority has acknowledged that fulfilling these requirements does not guarantee the safety of nuclear power plants. Moreover, with regard to the evacuation difficulties many victims of the accident faced, it is pointed out that the evacuation plans developed for many nuclear power plants are inadequate, and that it is extremely difficult to formulate effective evacuation plans.
Furthermore, nuclear power cannot be considered as clean energy. It is said that nuclear power plants do not emit Carbon Dioxide when operated. However, considering the electricity consumed to process uranium raw materials into uranium-based fuel to be used to generate electricity via the mining, refining, converting and enriching processes of such materials, emissions during the transportation of such materials and fuel, the decommissioning of nuclear reactors, the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, and the disposal and management of radioactive waste, such plants create huge amounts of Carbon Dioxide emissions throughout their life cycle. Needless to say, high-level radioactive waste generated through the operation of nuclear power plants is extremely toxic, and radioactive contamination in the event of an accident will be widespread and long-lasting. Therefore, nuclear power plants pose an extremely large environmental burden.
In the first place, the nuclear fuel cycle, which serves as a prerequisite for operating nuclear power plants in Japan, has already collapsed because the decommissioning plan for the fast breeder reactor Monju, the core of the nuclear fuel cycle, was approved in March 2018 and further the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant is out of operation. Technology for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, as well as a method for disposing of high-level radioactive waste (vitrified waste) that remains after reprocessing such fuel, has yet to be developed.
The government and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan (hereinafter referred to as the "NUMO") are conducting research to select a site for a final disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. However, they have yet to conduct preliminary research, and municipal governments that have expressed their intention to participate in a documentary survey are facing opposition from residents and neighboring municipalities thereof, resulting in the final selection of such site remaining uncertain.
Furthermore, high-level radioactive waste continues to emit intense radiation for a long period, and it takes about 100,000 years for such waste to decay to a level of radioactivity similar to that of the uranium ore that uranium was extracted from. High-level radioactive waste has already amounted to a huge volume and no proven technology to render such waste harmless has been developed. The government and the NUMO plan to implement the geological disposal of such waste. However, it is highly questionable that they will find a repository in Japan, which is located in one of the world’s most tectonically active zones, that allows such waste to be safely isolated deep into the earth until its radioactivity level sufficiently decreases. At least, no current scientific and technological knowledge can assure the safety of the geological disposal of such waste over tens of thousands of years. For these reasons, the government and the NUMO should withdraw their plan to geologically dispose of high-level radioactive waste considering the protection of safety of the lives, bodies, and health of present and future generations as a priority.
The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (the "JFBA") has opposed depending on nuclear power in Japan’s energy policy and called for closing the nuclear fuel cycle through the release of "Resolution Calling to Fully Redress the Damage Caused by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident as well as Achieve Denuclearization" dated October 4th, 2013, the "Opinion on Achieving Decarbonization by 2050 without Dependence on Nuclear Energy" dated June 18th, 2021, the "Opinion on the Draft Sixth Strategic Energy Plan" dated September 29th, 2021, and the "Resolution Calling to Review the Policy for Geological Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste and Fulfill the Responsibility of Realizing a Sustainable Society for Future Generations" dated September 30th, 2022.
However, as highlighted above, the government is about to change its policies toward making active use of nuclear power without giving due attention to the damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear accident that still remains today and the dangers of nuclear power generation.
With the formulation of the Plan, the JFBA once again calls on the government to refrain from restarting nuclear power plants or building new ones and to decommission existing nuclear power plants as soon as possible.
March 27th, 2025
Reiko Fuchigami
President, Japan Federation of Bar Associations