With the nation's last operating commercial reactor ceasing operations Saturday, The Japan Times interviewed two energy experts to explore the future of nuclear power in Japan.
Instead of scrambling to restart two idled reactors at the Oi power plant, the government should start capping the amount of spent nuclear fuel and boost use of renewable energies as a means to completely eliminate nuclear power in the long term, according to clean energy expert Tetsunari Iida.
The government and Kansai Electric Power Co.'s current haste to fire up the Oi nuclear plant reactors in Fukui Prefecture is "completely irrational," said Iida, one of 25 members on an industry ministry panel drafting Japan's medium- to long-term energy strategy.