Japan's Cabinet formally adopted a policy on Friday that will allow for the operation of nuclear reactors beyond their current 60-year limit alongside the building of new units to replace aging ones as part of efforts to cut carbon emissions while ensuring adequate national energy supply.
The government's "green transformation" policy features extensive use of nuclear power and marks a major policy shift for the country, which suffered a devastating nuclear disaster in 2011. The Cabinet decision follows a meeting in late December where the policy was agreed upon.
The government also plans to raise about 20 trillion yen through the issuance of green transformation bonds to boost investment in decarbonization projects, as it projects public and private investment of over 150 trillion yen will be necessary over the next 10 years.
Bills to implement the new policy will be submitted to parliament during the ongoing session.
The new policy will effectively extend the amount of time reactors can remain operational beyond 60 years by excluding time spent on inspections and other periods they are offline from consideration when calculating their total service life.
Advanced reactors, regarded as safer than conventional ones, will only be allowed to replace reactors destined for decommissioning, with the government aiming to begin operating next-generation reactors in the 2030s.
Public sentiment turned sour over the use of nuclear power as a national source of energy following the Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 that was triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. The government had repeatedly said it was not considering building new reactors or replacing existing ones.
But since Russia launched a major invasion of Ukraine in late February last year, a sharp rise in global energy prices has threatened the stable supply of energy for Japan, a resource-scarce country that heavily relies on fossil fuel imports, prompting officials to look into greater use of nuclear power.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed the government last summer to look into how the country can maximize the use of its nuclear energy facilities most effectively.
