The Feasibility of Japan Phasing Out the Use of Nuclear Power Plants (日本の原子力発電所停止の可能性)

Abstract:

The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant’s meltdown caused by the earthquake and
subsequent tsunami on March 11th of 2011, raised awareness of the dangers implicit with Nuclear energy. Even though many people have been suffering directly and indirectly because of the accident, some policymakers are still debating whether to reactivate Japan’s nuclear power plants or not. Nuclear energy has been considered clean energy by many researchers, but still it can have a huge negative impact on the environment. This exploratory essay looks into the issues, and the effects of other clean energy power plant like wind, hydro, and algae in their quest to generate electricity without impacting our environment. Later, there will be a discussion about how much Japan rely on Nuclear power plants to provide the energy its society need and an analysis of how viable it is for Japan to shift to alternative green energy production.

要旨:

2011年3月11日の東北大震災とそれによる津波によって福島第一原子力発電所のメルトダウンが確認されました。それによって日本国民は原子力発電所の危険性を目の当たりにしました。しかし多くの人々が犠牲になった今もなお日本の電力需要をカバーするためと原発再稼働の声が止みません。そこでこの論文では他の発電所(風力、水力、太陽光等)やバイオ燃料に着目し、電力生産性と環境破壊のリスクを調査します。その後福島第一原子力発電所が担っていた電力生産量と比較し、福島原発の再稼働の必要性について判断します。