Japan: a departure from nuclear power?!
Only two nuclear reactors are currently generating electricity; the No6 reactor of the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant operated by TEPCO and Hokkaido Electric Power Company’s No3 reactor of the Kashiwa plant. Kansai Electric’s No3 reactor at the Takahama plant has just halted for a routine maintenance on February 20.
Those last two reactors’ maintenance halt approaching this spring, the local autonomous governments have started moving away from nuclear power dependency.
Asahi Shinbun issued on February 18 mentioned some of them.
Nagaoka city, Niigata, located roughly 10km away from the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear plant that TEPCO operates, has proposed “Natural gas town initiative” last October (2011). The area produces about 40 percent of the nation’s total natural gas supply. Mayor Mori says, “We’d like to make use of our natural resources and lay down a stable foundation for the power supply that replaces nuclear reactors.”
The city’s plan is: to buy natural gas power generators for the headquarter building of the city fire department and for the new city hall building; and to generate electricity as well as to use the byproduct of heat for heating the building, melting the snow on the roof, making hot water, etc.
Inawashiro town of Fukushima, about 80km from TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi and Daini plants, are looking into harnessing the characteristics of the geothermal to heat/cool the town hall, which is estimated to reduce roughly 2 million yen (about US$25,000) in air conditioning cost.
Kitakata city, Fukushima prefecture has a plan to use stored snow to cool the city hall starting this summer. They’ll utilize the cold melted snow water for the air conditioning system.
Shizuoka prefecture, being the third longest sunlit hours in Japan, is planning to promote residential solar panels and subsidize up to 10,000 yen (about US$1,200) per household for the 11,000 households.
Sounds like a step in the right direction…
