Asia | Land of the riven atom

Japan pivots back to nuclear power

But it risks turning away from renewables

|ONAGAWA and TOKYO

From the grounds of Onagawa Nuclear Power Station, a plant in northern Japan, waves can be heard lapping at the nearby shore. They serve as a reminder of the tragedy that struck on March 11th 2011, when a giant earthquake triggered a massive tsunami that flooded Japan’s eastern coast. While the Onagawa reactors managed to shut down safely, the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, 180km down the coast, suffered a meltdown. After the disaster Japan shuttered all of its nuclear reactors. Since then only a handful have been turned back on. Onagawa is among the nuclear plants that remain idle.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Land of the riven atom”

From the January 14th 2023 edition

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