Hopefully they can come up with lower polluting alternatives and that this is just a temporary solution until then.
Tim, Japan does not have natural gas resources, and shipping it is not easy. This is one reason they went so fast for nuclear in questionable locations. They do need to make their nuke's safer, and add more renewable and fossil fuels. Bringing back moth balled generators is a quick but dirty fix. I hope the Japanese people the best in recovery from the disaster. Part of the reaction was also a shift of german power from nuclear to coal. This is cleaner more efficient coal, and they are quickly adding renewable.
Japan's disaster was a simple matter of playing the cost versus risk scenario. This is NOT a "point the finger" statement - rather just the opposite. You see . . . WE do the same cost/risk based power infrastructure here in the U.S. - and Japan simply followed suit. A few months ago, I had the very good fortune to talk to a knowledgeable "higher-up" at our OWN local (25 miles away) nuke facility - San Onofre. Publicly they paint a rosy picture of safety - being located right on the beach. Don't want to betray any confidences ... but let's just say the conversation was a dose of reality we were not looking forward to hearing. .
The big picture is that the Japan tsunami disaster probably forces the realization that it is not yet possible to instantly replace fossil fuels over the next 10 years. The smaller picture is Japan relied for many years on oil-fired generators and these are still available so that is good for them in this crisis. Oil is expensive as the main drawback. Long term presume they shift to more import LPG, solar, wind, and import coal-fired instead of nuclear.
I'm doubting they have the land area for renewables like wind or solar that could produce sufficient energy for their needs, so renewables for them are a costly pipe dream I suspect.
I expect wind and gas capacity to expand fastest. Here is a summary of japan's options Is a nuclear-free Japan possible? The future path and potential of renewable energy sources for Japan « EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog
