Power shortage looming large in Japan as nuclear reactors shut down

AFP - April 15, 2003

TOKYO (AFP) - An acute electricity shortage is looming large in Japan as power giant Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) completed the shutdown of all 17 of its nuclear reactors for emergency inspections.

TEPCO, the world's largest private power utility, stopped operations around 12:00am Tuesday (1500 GMT Monday) at its last running nuclear reactor in Fukushima, 200 kilometres (125 miles) northeast of Tokyo. TEPCO has been forced to shut down all its nuclear reactors for emergency inspections after admitting to falsifying safety records at nuclear plants since the late 1980s. With the first halt to all its nuclear reactors since 1976, TEPCO has lost 17.38 megawatts, or about 30 percent, of its power generating capacity.

AFP Photo

"We are seriously facing the fact that an unprecedented situation occurred due to a series of scandals," TEPCO President Tsunehisa Katsumata said in a statement.

"Our company will pursue inspections and carry out measures to prevent such a scandal from being repeated so that we can regain people's trust," the president said.

The scandal has angered residents near the reactors, most of whom are opposed to the immediate re-starting of the nuclear plants. The approval of local communities is a pre-requisite of resuming operations.

"We have not set any specific timetable for the resumption of the nuclear reactors here," said Sekiya Hiroyuki, an official of Kashiwazaki city, TEPCO's largest power plant host, which houses seven reactors.

"It is still uncertain when residents can accept TEPCO's request for the resumption as people living near the reactors are still concerned about a future accident," Hiroyuki said.

Japan, which is heavily reliant on nuclear power energy due its lack of natural resources, is widely expected to face a serious power shortage if TEPCO fails to reopen at least 10 reactors by summer when hot humid weather prompts millions to reach for the air conditioner switch.

"We hope we can restart at least 10 reactors by summer, when electricity demand is to hit a peak, but the prospects for resumption are by no means certain," a TEPCO spokesman said.

The company has started boosting operations at other types of power generators -- thermal power and hydroelectric power generations -- and plans to buy electricity from other utility companies in a bid to make up for the drop in nuclear output.

Despite a series of scandals and accidents involving nuclear reactors in Japan, the government still plans to raise its reliance on nuclear power, from providing 35 percent of the nation's power in 2001 to 42 percent in 2010. Germany, by contrast, plans to eliminate all nuclear power plants by 2020.

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