Nuclear Power Fuels Japan Election - Wall Street Journal

A local election in southern Japan pits a pro-nuclear-energy incumbent against an anti-nuclear-energy candidate in the first big electoral test for how far the country will go in pulling the plug on nuclear power. WSJ's James Simms explains.

KAMINOSEKI, Japan—This small fishing village has become the next front in Japan's battle over nuclear power, with an anti-nuke protester threatening to oust the pro-nuke mayor in an election Sunday.

At stake: the fate of a long-planned reactor for which ground-breaking is supposed to take place next year.

More broadly, the defeat of a mayor whose economic development strategy has centered around a controversial power plant could fuel the country's increasingly influential anti-nuclear movement.

"What's often said is that we need nuclear-power money to run Kaminoseki," challenger Sadao Yamato, 61 years old, told a few dozen supporters as he formally kicked off his campaign Tuesday. Standing on a beer crate at his campaign office in front of the Murotsu port, he went on, "Should we sacrifice the precious livelihoods and lives of our villagers for money?"

Mr. Yamato's answer is clear. His election poster, which shows him posed in front of solar panels and wearing a white polo shirt, is captioned "Graduate from Nuclear Power!"

James Simms/The Wall Street Journal Pro-nuclear Mayor Shigemi Kashiwabara, wearing a tie, versus anti-nuclear challenger Sadao Yamato, in a polo shirt in front of solar panels

Activists have been fighting Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s plan for a Kaminoseki plant since it was first broached in 1982, and all eight mayoral elections since then have been fought mainly over the issue. But all eight times, the pro-nuclear camp won.

This weekend's contest is the third between incumbent Shigemi Kashiwabara and a Yamato family member. Mr. Kashiwabara first took office in 2003 by besting Mr. Yamato, 59% to 41%. Four years ago, he beat Mr. Yamato's son, Takashi Yamato, 67% to 33%.

But that was before the March 11 Fukushima Daiichi accident eroded support for nuclear power all over the country. Polls show large majorities of the public want to curb Japan's dependence on atomic energy—and, at a minimum, halt construction of new reactors like the one planned in Kaminoseki. On Monday, tens of thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Tokyo to demand an end to nuclear power in Japan.

With the national government feeble and divided, the future of nuclear power now is being shaped more in communities where reactors are located or planned. Of the reactors down for maintenance at the time of the accident or shut down since, just one, which was undergoing test operations in March, has restarted. The restart of the rest has been stymied by local opposition, amid community fears that without stricter safety controls, another Fukushima-style accident is possible.

Still, many long-struggling towns continue to see the atom as crucial for economic development. In the first local post-Fukushima election to center around nuclear energy, a governor who strongly backs building a reactor handily won re-election in June in impoverished northern Aomori prefecture.

Kaminoseki's mayoral election is the second such test. The community was once strongly pro-nuclear, but local newspapers say the race appears closer this time.

In Kaminoseki, as in Aomori, the financial incentives are great, because of declining and aging populations and shrinking local economies and tax bases—issues that much of rural Japan faces.

Since the nuclear project was first proposed some three decades ago, the population has halved, to just 3,534, and the proportion of those age 65 or more has jumped to nearly half from a fifth. Because of the planned reactors, nuclear-related funding sources provide almost one-fourth of the village's nearly $60 million budget now, and Chugoku Electric has donated $32 million to village coffers since 2007.

A billboard on the island where the reactor is planned shows a couple and their baby having a picnic, the proposed twin reactors in the background. Set up by promoters of the plant, it reads, "A Vibrant Village With Nuclear Electricity."

James Simms/The Wall Street Journal Pro-plant billboard reads 'A Vibrant Village With Nuclear Electricity.'

Tsutomu Asami heads the Kaminoseki commerce and industrial cooperative, and owns a fish wholesaler. He said the local economy has been hurt by a lack of work for younger people, fewer people to take over fishing jobs and a drop in the catches of prized fish like snapper and flounder. "Nuclear power is the only option," he said.

Chugoku Electric, after three decades of struggle to clear political and legal hurdles, finally appeared close to breaking ground for the plant before the Fukushima Daiichi accident. The utility began full-time work at the site on Feb. 21, when a Yamaguchi District Court issued an order preventing demonstrators from interfering with the project. But protesters continued working to block construction, converging on the site from land and sea.

Little progress had been made by March 11, when the tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Five days later, the governor of Yamaguchi prefecture asked the utility to suspend site-preparation work. But Chugoku Electric says it plans to go forward with construction, a resolve the utility's president repeated at a news conference just last Friday.

A supportive mayor is crucial for those plans.

Mayor Kashiwabara, 62, hasn't revoked his backing for the reactor. But he does appear to be playing it down in his campaign. His official poster, showing him in a dark suit, carries the slogan "Connecting to the Future"—but no mention of nuclear energy.

In one of his opening rallies, speaking to several dozen supporters, Mr. Kashiwabara didn't argue for or against the plant, saying the decision ultimately rests with the national government in Tokyo. He seemed to suggest that if the plug does get pulled, the community should get compensation.

"The main thing is that I want the government to acknowledge the 30 years of anguish" villagers have suffered over the nuclear issue, Mr. Kashiwabara said.

—Chester Dawson
contributed to this article.

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Suzuki fuels Japan's win - Williamsport Sun-Gazette

Yoshiki Suzuki did just about everything right around the plate in Saturday's Little League World Series International title game.

He threw enough of his 91 pitches for strikes to earn a 5-2 victory over Mexicali, Baja Calif.

He also blocked it with perfect position, his left foot on the basepath, with his right foot behind him for support, to tag out Mexico's Jorge Jacobo on a critical infield dribbler in the fifth inning.

He also had one hit in three at-bats, and he scored an insurance run for himself in the fifth inning.

It all added up to put his Hamamatsu City, Japan, team into today's championship game against Huntington Beach, Calif., the seventh time in 11 years a Japanese team reached the final.

"I just want them all to try their best and they did a great job, more than I thought," Japan manager Atihiro Suzuki said through an interpreter. "We had little mistakes, but the game flowed well, so it turned out well."

Yoshiki Suzuki struck out Kenet Delgado on eight pitches to end the game and strand a runner on second, giving himself the complete game as well.

His only trouble came in the fourth inning when Alonso Garcia doubled and scored on an infield error and when Jacobo tripled home Carlos Arellano.

But Suzuki got himself out of the fifth-inning jam by tagging out Jacobo at home on a dribbler hit in front of the plate. It looked like a textbook fundamental tag, with Suzuki's left foot blocking the plate and his right foot in back for support.

Only Suzuki said that wasn't his plan.

"I didn't know the runner was running," Suzuki said through an interpreter. "I just happened to look, he was sliding and I went for the tag."

Suzuki also contributed offensively, singling and scoring when Asuya Otsuka singled to center in the fifth.

However, Mexico manager Francisco Picos said it was the two runs Japan scored in the fourth on top of two in the third that depressed his team, particularly after it stranded two runners in the first inning, blowing its best chance.

"They got a little desperate," Picos said through an interpreter. "Especially after they started scoring and we hadn't. I definitely think it affected them."

Japan scored in the third when Hiroyasu Sigiura doubled home Gaishi Iguchi and then scored on an infield error.

In the fifth, Kaito Suzuki singled home Otsuka and scored on Mitsuhiro Uchida's double.

Iguchi, Japan's normal shortstop, missed the first Mexico game with an injury but his team has won every game he's played here.

It all has Japan on the brink of a second straight LLWS title, as Edogawa Minami, of Tokyo, won last year. This is Hamamatsu City's first appearance. Atihiro Suzuki said neither he nor his kids had scouted the United States field, but that may not matter.

Picos thought Japan had Jacobo, his starting pitcher who took Saturday's loss, figured out ahead of time. But Suzuki said he thought Mexico would start Garcia, who instead relieved.

"After the game started we discussed Jacobo and we were able to adjust as a team together," Atihiro Suzuki said with a chuckle, appearing to take Picos' words as a compliment.

The Japanese manager comes off a little looser than some previous Japanese managers over the years. Sure, he stresses fundamentals over and over, and Suzuki's block of home is proof of the teaching, but it's not every year the Japanese manager says playing hard and having fun are more important than winning.

He's been seen laughing a bit on the field and usually during his postgame interviews, giving off the impression he's enjoying this once-in-a-lifetime ride every bit as most of his United States counterparts usually do.

He watched Edogawa Minami on TV with his players last year, and like them, he said he never believed he'd be here the following year.

This team is one win from something even more unbelievable.

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Quake in Japan Is Causing a Costly Shift to Fossil Fuels - New York Times

“They asked me how long it would take,” said Masatake Koseki, head of the Yokosuka plant, which is 40 miles south of Tokyo and run by Tokyo Electric. “The facilities are old, so I told them six months. But they said, ‘No, you must ready them by summer to prepare for an energy shortage.’ ”

Now, at summer’s peak, Yokosuka’s two fuel-oil and two gas turbines are cranking out a total of 900,000 kilowatts of electricity a day — and an abundance of fumes.

The generators are helping to replace the 400 million kilowatt-hours of daily electricity production lost this summer because of the shutdown of all but 15 of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Across the country, dozens of other fossil-fuel plants have been fired up, and Japan is importing billions of dollars worth of liquefied natural gas, coal and oil to keep them running.

Japan, the world’s third-largest user of electricity behind China and the United States, had counted on an expansion of nuclear power to contain energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, its nuclear program is in retreat, as the public and government officials urge a sharp reduction in the nation’s reliance on nuclear power and perhaps an end to it altogether.

As its nuclear program implodes, Japan is grappling with a jump in fuel costs, making an economic recovery from the March earthquake and tsunami all the more difficult. Annual fuel expenses could rise by more than 3 trillion yen, or about $39 billion, the government says.

The country, until recently a vocal proponent of measures to curb climate change, is also leaving a bigger carbon footprint. According to government calculations, Japan’s greenhouse gas emissions could rise by as much as 210 million metric tons, or 16 percent, by 2013 from 1990 levels if its nuclear reactors were shut permanently. Under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a global agreement on greenhouse gas emissions, Japan promised to reduce its emissions by 6 percent over that period.

“Can nuclear be eliminated?” asked Adam Schatzker, an energy analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “It’s possible, but very costly.”

If necessary, Japan could replace the energy capacity lost in the shutdown of its nuclear fleet by increasing the use of natural gas and coal, Mr. Schatzker said. “But even if fossil fuel facilities can make up for the loss of nuclear, it would likely take time, cost a great deal more money and pollute significantly,” he said.

For resource-poor Japan, it is an energy shift of an unprecedented scale and speed. A generation ago, the oil shock of 1973, which exposed the country’s overdependence on Middle Eastern oil, forced Japanese companies to focus on energy efficiency and prompted the government to invest heavily in nuclear power.

But as it doubled down on nuclear power plants, Japan was slow to develop alternative forms of energy, like solar or wind power, which account for just 1 percent of its electricity supply.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called for a gradual move away from nuclear energy, and proposed a goal of generating 20 percent of Japan’s electricity from renewable sources, including hydroelectric plants, by the early 2020s. The Parliament is debating legislation to spur that change.

A nuclear-free future could come much sooner, however. Nervous local governments have blocked the restart of reactors idled for routine inspections. If no reactors can restart, Japan’s entire nuclear fleet, which provided 30 percent of its electricity in 2009, could be closed by spring.

The shutdowns are already causing an energy squeeze. At least three utilities have come close to full capacity during peak demand hours this summer. The government has warned that eastern Japan, including Tokyo, could face an electricity shortage of about 10 percent next summer if no nuclear plants are running.

A 10 percent shortage may not be disastrous. This summer, for example, a major energy-saving drive by households and companies drove down peak electricity demand in July by about 20 percent, to 46.3 million kilowatts, averting blackouts despite the energy shortfall, according to Tokyo Electric, the operator of the stricken Fukushima plant.

Still, “we take this situation very seriously,” Toshio Nishizawa, chief executive of Tokyo Electric, said this month. Only three of the company’s 17 nuclear reactors are running.

A protracted increase in fossil fuel costs is possible to make up for the shortfall, traders say.

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