Great news!-----Seventh Plan’s the Charm - Expectations for Japan’s updated energy plan include a nuclear renaissance.

If there’s one country that understands the need for a comprehensive energy strategy, it is Japan, mostly because it has never possessed much exploitable energy of its own. - Doomberg 

At its zenith, nuclear energy accounted for 30% of Japan’s total electricity generation, a bedrock of stable baseload supply and a cornerstone of the country’s booming manufacturing sector. 

• All that changed on March 11, 2011. The natural disaster that led to the meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had a profound effect on Japan’s energy outlook. 
• From 2010 to 2012, electricity produced from nuclear reactors dropped 93%. 
• By 2014, the country produced none. 
• During this suspension of activity, additional fossil fuels were imported, citizens were asked to participate in massive efficiency drives, and plans for a large-scale rollout of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar were drafted.

The domestic and international reaction to the Fukushima disaster was wildly overblown, much to the detriment of the Japanese people...

Within Japan, calmer leadership eventually reasserted itself, and a slow reopening of the country’s reactors began in late 2015. 

• As of the time of this writing, 14 of Japan’s 33 operable reactors have reconnected to the grid, and a further 11 are seeking restart approval. Two additional reactors are under construction, but the timing of their completion is uncertain...