Japan's Nuclear Crisis: A Time for Support
These are terrifying moments. No one could ever have imagined that the Japanese nuclear sector could fall victim to such a seismic event.
No country has spent more time building safeguards against seismic events than the Japanese who live at the confluence of three tectonic plates directly over the Pacific ring of fire. Yet, while no one can contest that the natural disaster that struck Japan was unprecedented, here we are with a very dangerous situation in Fukushima and it isn’t over yet. As the world observes from a distance, it needs to maintain the same sang-froid as the Japanese people who are living these events and support those who seek to cool the overheating reactors. Already the world knows that the firefighters seeking to cool the reactors are very likely sacrificing their lives.
Now is not the time to make quick judgments about the future of nuclear power or draw comparisons about whether such an event could happen in our country or how we would handle such an event differently. Nor to claim that our reactors are more modern than those in crisis in Japan - we all have operational reactors from multiple generations. Now is the time to watch attentively and learn. What went wrong? What went right? What are the challenges in communicating with the public and the world? How can authorities translate the unstructured evolution of such an event into public messaging that is timely, transparent, and informative and that can help citizens weight appropriately their individual options? What other lessons can we learn?
Thirteen percent of the world’s electricity is generated by nuclear power and another over 60 reactors are under construction. Nuclear power is important to our electricity supply now and will be for some decades to come. It is not a question of ‘whether" nuclear power so much as ‘how" nuclear power and over time ‘how much" nuclear power. Populations around the world will look to their authorities for assurances that nuclear power can continue to fulfill its role safely.
Our energy options are already limited and the challenge of providing clean, reliable, affordable energy to our populations is not getting any easier. As another 2 or 3 billion people on earth seek greater comfort and the benefits of modern energy services over the next years, we need to assure that our choices of energy will be sustainable not just in 2050 or the next century but in the transition between now and then. There are no easy answers.
Available in:
Regions and themes
Share
Author(s)
William C. RAMSAY
Directeur du Centre Energie de l'Ifri de 2008 à 2011, Conseiller de 2012 à 2016
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programs
Center for Energy & Climate
Ifri's Energy and Climate Center carries out activities and research on the geopolitical and geoeconomic issues of energy transitions such as energy security, competitiveness, control of value chains, and acceptability. Specialized in the study of European energy/climate policies as well as energy markets in Europe and around the world, its work also focuses on the energy and climate strategies of major powers such as the United States, China or India. It offers recognized expertise, enriched by international collaborations and events, particularly in Paris and Brussels.
Find out more
Discover all our analyses
Europe’s Black Mass Evasion: From Black Box to Strategic Recycling
EV batteries recycling is a building block for boosting the European Union (EU)’s strategic autonomy in the field of critical raw minerals (CRM) value chains. Yet, recent evolutions in the European EV value chain, marked by cancellations or postponements of projects, are raising the alarm on the prospects of the battery recycling industry in Europe.
The New Geopolitics of Energy
Following the dramatic floods in Valencia, and as COP29 opens in Baku, climate change is forcing us to closely reexamine the pace—and the stumbling blocks—of the energy transition.
Can carbon markets make a breakthrough at COP29?
Voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) have a strong potential, notably to help bridge the climate finance gap, especially for Africa.
Taiwan's Energy Supply: The Achilles Heel of National Security
Making Taiwan a “dead island” through “a blockade” and “disruption of energy supplies” leading to an “economic collapse.” This is how Colonel Zhang Chi of the People’s Liberation Army and professor at the National Defense University in Beijing described the objective of the Chinese military exercises in May 2024, following the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president, Lai Ching-te. Similar to the exercises that took place after Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei in August 2022, China designated exercise zones facing Taiwan’s main ports, effectively simulating a military embargo on Taiwan. These maneuvers illustrate Beijing’s growing pressure on the island, which it aims to conquer, and push Taiwan to question its resilience capacity.