That’s how I imagine Variety would have headlined last week’s very big news that Japan’s prime minister, Naoto Kan, is abandoning any push for new nuclear power and will make a concerted effort to promote renewables. I lauded Germany’s Chancellor, Angela Merkel, when she made essentially the same decision in March. A panel of experts recently backed her up on this score.
Kan is to be similarly hailed. It is not necessarily, in light of the enormous juice that private-sector utilities have in his country, an easy call. (One of the big reasons, of course, for the failures at Fukushima was the undue influence that Tepco has had on the regulatory authorities.)
Asahi Shimbun, one of the world’s leading newspapers, had an editorial last week also saying it was an important development and pointing out that “… the three power supply crises that have broken out in Japan during the past decade are all related to nuclear energy.”
As the Fukushima crisis continues, the world is paying more and more attention to the safety of the existing plants. The UNSG, Ban Ki-moon, called last week for a renewed emphasis on safety. Ban, however, like too many other policy makers, including President Obama and DOE Secretary Chu, still thinks nuclear should be in the mix. I wrote here in March that I wished that Obama had the same degree of circumspection as Merkel. I wondered then, as now, if the President and Energy Secretary Chu, both pretty smart guys, have any perspective on the nuclear boondoggle they continue to pursue.