this post was submitted on 25 Oct 2023
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It’s been devastating for us here in Japan too. With one exception, our nuclear reactors have been decommissioned due to well-meaning but short-sighted public outcry. Exacerbated by our sanctions of Russia, who provided most of the rest of our energy. We are restarting and rebuilding coal en masse.
Energy bills have gone up by 50-60% while the yen has tanked by as much.
The outcry should really be directed at TEPCO and their handling of the situation before, during, and after.
It's the same for Germany. Angela Merkel, herself a doctor in quantum chemistry (so she very likely knows the basics of how nuclear power works), had supported maintaining Germany's remaining nuclear power plants until their planned decommissioning dates. That is, until Fukushima when her government agreed to pull the plug early. "It could happen here," everyone thought in panic. Such a panic that the reactor operators had to get paid out for legally promised and lost revenue, but Germans didn't care one bit. Now the country cheers the end of nuclear power, while French reactors help keep the German grid stable.
The excess premature deaths due to increased air pollution are in the tens of thousands here, probably similar in Japan.
As you say, it's all to blame on companies and their lackeys in liberal governments.
This point cannot be stressed enough. A lot of people have the tendency to look down on the general public for falling into this state of panic and fear about nuclear power and excuse the decisions of the government as them responding to public pressure. But it's the other way around. A government that works for the people would instead seek to educate people about nuclear power, to allay their fears and to explain to them why nuclear is still a much better and safer solution for them than fossil fuel. Public opinion can be shaped very easily if only there was the political will to wage a concerted media campaign to promote nuclear power. Instead liberal governments use the excuse of public opinion to hide behind when they make decisions which harm the people but enrich the politicians' corporate masters.