May 20, 2012

Kansai leaders vow 15% cut in summer electricity use

Kansai government leaders agreed Saturday to cut electricity use in the region by at least 15 percent between July and September under the assumption that the Oi No. 3 and No. 4 nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture won’t be restarted in time to meet ...

| May 17, 2012

Kansai power crunch just political rivalry?

The confrontation between the central government and Kansai area leaders over the restart of two nuclear reactors in Oi, Fukui Prefecture, has more to do with the growing power struggle between Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda than with safety or ...

Kansai braces for summer heat without reactors

May 16, 2012

Kansai braces for summer heat without reactors

News that the Kansai region will be asked to cut summer power consumption by at least 15 percent and that plans are afoot for outright restrictions on electricity use, including rolling blackouts, was greeted calmly by area political leaders and residents. The government and ...

May 10, 2012

Kansai to face the heat reactor-free

Kansai firms and individuals are bracing for a long summer, as contradictory predictions from Tokyo, Kansai Electric Power Co. and renewable-energy advocates are stirring concern over how much electricity will be available, but not fueling a desire to restart two nuclear reactors that would ...

Economy, prestige at stake in Kyoto-Nara maglev battle

May 3, 2012

Economy, prestige at stake in Kyoto-Nara maglev battle

By the middle of the century, if all goes according to plan, a maglev shinkansen will be in operation between Tokyo and Osaka, reducing a 100-minute trip to just over an hour. As with the current bullet train lines, stations will be built in ...

Hopes for Noda-Obama talks underwhelm

Apr 28, 2012

Hopes for Noda-Obama talks underwhelm

When Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda meets with Barack Obama on Monday, they will hold the first formal one-on-one talks between a Japanese leader and a U.S. president in Washington since February 2009. A new agreement to return land controlled by U.S. military facilities in ...

Officials find Oi split on reactor restarts

Apr 28, 2012

Officials find Oi split on reactor restarts

Officials from the central government announced they made progress on convincing residents that it is safe to restart two idled reactors at Oi’s nuclear plant during a meeting Thursday evening. But only around 540 people turned up for the event, less than 6 percent ...

Apr 27, 2012

METI official talks up Oi reactor restart in Fukui

A visiting official from the industry ministry on Thursday apologized to the town of Oi, Fukui Prefecture, over the government’s failure to create a new nuclear watchdog by April 1, but stressed that the town’s idled atomic reactors have passed all the requisite safety ...

Apr 24, 2012

Amid restart protests, Kansai leaders offer fuel storage

Opposition among Kansai leaders to restarting reactors 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture remains strong. But at the same time, a few have recently signaled they might be open to storing spent fuel from Oi ...