The government's new Basic Energy Plan, adopted by the Abe administration in a Cabinet meeting on Friday, fails to set a clear new direction for the nation's energy policy, which has been clouded by doubts over the safety of nuclear power ever since three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant melted down in March 2011.
Reversing the previous Democratic Party of Japan-led administration's policy of seeking a phaseout of nuclear power by the 2030s, the plan calls nuclear energy an "important source of base load power" for Japan and states that nuclear reactors — all 48 of which are now idled — should be restarted once they have cleared safety screening by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
The plan also states that Japan's dependence on nuclear power — which at its peak accounted for about 30 percent of the nation's total electricity supply — should be reduced as much as possible by expanding renewable energy and achieving greater energy efficiency.