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They can protest however they want, they will not change the basic facts: that a country with Japan's population density needs dense power---a lot of power from

They can protest however they want, they will not change the basic facts: that a country with Japan's population density needs dense power---a lot of power from as little land as possible. Keeping existing nuclear plants for as long as possible, while the next generation of nuclear plants is being actively developed, is a sane choice for any country, but especially for Japan. Of course, I can see the incredulous voices "How can you say that, when in Fukushima etc.". However, please see (again) the facts: radiation death toll is still zero. Compare that to the death toll from pollution, if Japan had built coal plants instead of nuclear plants all those decades. For numbers, google "deaths per terawatthour".

darien 14y ago
I think the point is that Japan can live without nuclear power. As a collectivist society, Japanese have voluntarily cut down on energy usage. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/japan-nuclear-reactors_n_1483084.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/japan-nuclear-react... However losing the nuclear industry in Japan will harm the economy and increase the unemployment rate at a bad time (everytime is a bad time for a debt nation). Sanity has really little to do with the situation.
- potatolicious 14y ago
  Unless Japan has gone back to an agrarian economy and are lighting up oil lamps at night, I doubt they've reduced their power consumption by anything other than a token amount. A speed bump in the need for more power generation capacity.
- zxcdw 14y ago
  Anyone can live without nuclear power. Everyone can live with solar power. Most people can live without electricity at all. The point is that nobody wants to do it though. The problem for Japan is that they either have to buy power elsewhere, settle for using less power(most power is consumed by industrial facilities which try to make profit, mind you) or find a way to generate all the power required very densely while NOT using nuclear power. If they won't use nuclear power, then what? Buying causes expenses, people pay - quality of life goes down. The same happens if they try to make the industrial power consumption go down - profits die - people pay. I personally can't think of any other way for a densely populated country as Japan to prouce power than nuclear power, without giving up some of the quality of life. How much they need to sacrifice depends on the area though.

darien 14y ago

I think the point is that Japan can live without nuclear power. As a collectivist society, Japanese have voluntarily cut down on energy usage. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/japan-nuclear-reactors_n_1483084.html http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/05/japan-nuclear-react... However losing the nuclear industry in Japan will harm the economy and increase the unemployment rate at a bad time (everytime is a bad time for a debt nation). Sanity has really little to do with the situation.

potatolicious 14y ago
Unless Japan has gone back to an agrarian economy and are lighting up oil lamps at night, I doubt they've reduced their power consumption by anything other than a token amount. A speed bump in the need for more power generation capacity.
zxcdw 14y ago
Anyone can live without nuclear power. Everyone can live with solar power. Most people can live without electricity at all. The point is that nobody wants to do it though. The problem for Japan is that they either have to buy power elsewhere, settle for using less power(most power is consumed by industrial facilities which try to make profit, mind you) or find a way to generate all the power required very densely while NOT using nuclear power. If they won't use nuclear power, then what? Buying causes expenses, people pay - quality of life goes down. The same happens if they try to make the industrial power consumption go down - profits die - people pay. I personally can't think of any other way for a densely populated country as Japan to prouce power than nuclear power, without giving up some of the quality of life. How much they need to sacrifice depends on the area though.