Published on Apr. 11, 2017: The Denki Shimbun (The Electric Daily News)
Shojiro Matsuura
President & CEO

I happened to hear a remarkable story about energy when renewing my car’s inspection. Japan’s hybrid automobiles have unequivocally improved their performance to such an extent that competitors in other countries have clearly switched strategy to compete in the market for electric vehicles. The principal technological factor prompting this change has been the progress made in battery performance. Integration of machinery and electricity for hybrid automobiles is complex, and would-be competitors appear to have determined that there is no way they can catch up with the decisive lead that Japanese hybrid vehicles have attained.

Although the aim in manufacturing such vehicles is to cut back on fuel consumption and conserve the environment, it is predicted that use of electric energy throughout society as a whole will increase. Consequently, the inevitable issue then is how to secure sources for electric power in the future.

Since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, popular opinion in Japan has generally trended toward reducing nuclear power usage and, even, headed in the direction of withdrawing from it completely. The situation that Japan finds itself in is one where we must continue at a low rate of energy self-sufficiency while doing our best to keep an unstable balance between domestic demand and international supply.

As a succession of terrorist acts and other such abnormal circumstances continue around the world, the public is not interested in the least in Japan’s vulnerability to energy supplies, which is thanks to the continuing steady supply of fossil fuels and the absence of any major disruptions in that supply. Nevertheless, one look at the continuing global rise in protectionism must make us fully realize the need to sound a warning bell here.

In ancient times, conflict among tribes was the norm to secure food, in other words the energy to maintain life. At times, even mass movements of ethnic groups occurred in search of energy. Since the Industrial Revolution, countries have sought to ensure their hegemony over a wide area in order to secure energy resources, and multiple wars and great battles have taken place in such pursuit. Recalling these historical facts, we must realize that it is our indispensable duty to future generations to ready solutions for this problem.

Considering Japan’s geopolitical situation and complete lack of fossil energy resources, it is essential that we recognize and resolve that, in order to raise the level of energy self-sufficiency on our own up to a level that assures the safety and well-being of society, there is no other way than the utilization of renewable energies (water, wind and solar power) and nuclear energy.

When current and future energy use is projected, the overwhelming importance that electricity usage plays in this equation is without question. And, the hyper-stable long-term storage of electric power in vast quantities is economically and technologically impossible to anticipate.

Even if renewable energies are able to be secured quantitatively, it is inevitable that their levels will fluctuate, necessitating a considerable amount of reserve power sources or batteries. Yet, this would be difficult to effectuate economically.

Ultimately, we have no other choice but to consider nuclear power to be optimal as a long-term stable power source. Of course, the basic assumption underlying this statement is the assurance of thorough safety through sufficient preparations against abnormalities and advanced proficiency in the employment of current technology.

One of the major advantages of nuclear fuel is that enormous energy is potentially stored in a fissile nuclide as mass and internal nucleus force of the structure. When a fissile nuclide (such as uranium-235) causes a nuclear fission reaction with a neutron, the enormous energy is released as the kinetic energy of fission products nuclides, neutrons and other radiative particles and gamma rays. For example, in the process of nuclear fission of one gram of uranium 235, approximately 1000 kWd are released. This shows that nuclear fuel is ideal as a reserve material that will provide a stable supply of energy.

Natural uranium is mined at a limited number of places on land. However, dissolved in seawater, it is present in enormous quantities at ultra-micro concentrations. The basic technology for collecting uranium dissolved in seawater was developed in the 1990s at the former Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute’s Takasaki Laboratory. Kilograms of uranium were collected during the testing to verify the technology in the seas around Aomori and Okinawa. Recently, research to improve the technology has been advanced in a joint research project being conducted by Japan, United States and China. Reports indicate that noteworthy results have been obtained. This means that nuclear technology will be able to remarkably augment Japan’s energy self-sufficiency.

Since the Fukushima accident, the whole world has paid close attention to how Japan’s nuclear industry will reconstruct nuclear power safely for the benefit of society. To fulfill our duty to future societies, isn’t it time now that we soberly assess the potential of nuclear science and technology, and set about constructing a new vision for nuclear power together with social stakeholders?

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