Japan may give up nuclear power

New York Times : Japan’s government is currently weighing its options with regard to nuclear power. Over the year and a half since the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake that forced the closing of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, all of the country’s 50-plus reactors have been shut down. Now the government is considering whether to restart the reactors and run them until 2030, when they would have reached their 40-year life span and been decommissioned anyway. Because the country depended on nuclear power for 30% of its electrical needs, not restarting the reactors could prove to be an economic hardship for many companies and force some out of business. Fuel imports and greenhouse gas emissions have surged. However, the general public is strongly opposed to nuclear power, and with elections coming up, many public officials are starting to favor the development of alternative energy sources, such as renewables, instead.