Japan faces soaring cost of ditching nuclear power

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan announced ambitions to phase out the use of nuclear generation. But faced with bulging energy imports and high prices, official enthusiasm for the plan has waned. By David Hayes

Tokyo in semi-darkness after Fukushima
Tokyo in darkness following Fukushima

Exceptional circumstances call for exceptional measures. That, in essence, was the conclusion of the Japanese government on September 14, when prime minister Yoshihiko Noda unveiled its ambition for nuclear power generation to be completely phased out from the country’s electricity grid by 2040.

To many observers, the move is an understandable response to the trauma caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which struck following a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Nonetheless

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