Cafe Wall
Story and Photograph by Lehan Winifred Ramsay
Coming up in Japan: a dilemma. Since last year’s triple disaster in Japan the nuclear power stations have been suspending operations, one by one, for checking and maintenance. The last reactor is scheduled to be de-activated on May 5.
The dilemma is a little complicated. Many people say that this is a time that Japan really needs a “miracle recovery”, like the one that took place after World War II. But there are a lot of factors needed for this miracle recovery, and one of them is power. Since March last year, power has been a concern to the government. As the nuclear reactors shut down, companies are asked to reduce their power consumption. So instead of increasing production, in many cases they have had to reduce it.
A further problem is the looming increase in the price of electricity. Many companies are considering moving their manufacturing and production off-shore, and increases in electricity prices will strengthen the argument to do so. Aside from industry, there is concern that ordinary people will be affected by rising electricity prices and blackouts.
The government seems to be of the opinion that before the last nuclear power station suspends operation, it is important to start up one of the stations that has been inspected. But the public is currently divided over whether they want to do this. On the one hand, there is a great deal of concern about the safety of nuclear power plants. On the other, they are being warned that there may be widespread blackouts over the summer, and that the shutting down of the plants may contribute to further economic troubles. It seems that the government wants to prevent the anti-nuclear movement growing stronger.
The closure of all nuclear stations might make it harder to get the support to restart them. On the other hand, if there are numerous blackouts over the summer, that might cause support for nuclear power to resume to grow. The government also appears to be a little unsure of how to persuade the people.
It seems clear that the Central Government is committed to nuclear power. Not so the Municipal Governments, some of which are opposing efforts to get the plants restarted. Many local governments too are opposed.
Another problem is that the increased use of fossil fuels as an alternative to nuclear power has many problems. Increased cost, pollution, reliance on outside energy sources. There seem to be huge investments going into alternative sources and research. Nobody is really sure if a cheap and safe alternative can be found, and it is unclear as to whether a cheap and safe alternative is really being searched for. It may be that these efforts are aimed more at placating the public.
I feel a lot of sympathy for the Japanese people. This dilemma comes at a time when the country was already experiencing a drop in economic power, and started a serious conversation about what the future should be, which direction to take. It’s a discussion we all need to take, because once the babble about carbon, offsets, all those airy-fairy economic games stops, we still haven’t made any serious choices or serious decisions about how to stop the world from ending up on a junk-pile. People here are thinking.
Coming up in the beginning of May are the Golden Week holidays, when we will experience our first Nuclear Break.
Window Dresser's Arms, Pig & Whistle 
Most informative, Lehan, thank you. It seems that what happens in Japan could well be an indicator of which direction the rest of the world is likely to go. I feel for the Japanese people, who above all people must now know and understand exactly how dangerous it is to build nuclear powerstations in an earthquake zone… and there are few places on Earth which are entirely free from seizmic or volcanic activity.
That there is huge investment in alternative energy sources is hopeful, as this is clearly the only road with a clear and attainable future… There is already a fair amount of good, usable clean energy technology (windmills/farms, hot rocks, solar towers/arrays) which are improving all the time; I only hope Japan’s Government take the direction it seems their people wish to take; that they are insisting on restarting nuclear power stations seems to suggest to me some strong and probably corrupt influence from the mining companies whose products would fuel these nuclear power stations. That they are quite likely to have nuclear thrust down their throats willy-nilly is also evident… I suppose this is a real test of ‘people power’ Lehan… This is a struggle to see if the people can get what’s right for their nation and the planet, in spite of those with vested corporate interests in the status quo…
We can only watch carefully and hope that eventually even the greed-monsters will get the message and go with theh flow…
😐
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A really enjoyable essay to read before I head off to bed, Lehan. In the sense it is so easy to read and presents a series of ideas and their countervailing principles. That is an education. You are, of course, an educator. The photograph is chilling. Beautiful. It mixes emotions.
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Gerard, I have a personal appreciation of Prof David Vines because I knew David when we were at University in our respective cities; I can hear the sincerity of David in this interview. I thought you might find some interest in his presentation. I hope the link works.
http://www.voicesfromoxford.com/dvines_oxfordremedyglobalrecession.html
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I intended to post this comment under Gerard’s below @gerard oosterman says: April 30, 2012 at 10:51 pm.
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Some countries have major problems, here we occupy ourselves with endless trivia, endless media made scandals…I just watched Q&A and I have to confess that felt like throwing my boots at both Reith and Mirabella, what awful people…where do the Liberals find them…
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That Mirabella is a vulgar woman isn’t she, opened her mouth and spewed falsehoods for the whole hour. The bloke who owned the manufacturing business just made her look stupid with her carry on about the carbon tax, when he said it was basically a minor cost to him.
As for Rieth, charged wasn’t he entitled to the presumption of innocence, that we can’t affored anyone else. He appears to have trouble with the truth.
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That was a sadly lack-lustre presentation by Peter Reith and Mirabella on Q and A. If they ever come to, it ought to be to discovery of shame projecting this one upmanship. Were they not bizarre.
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The problem of energy and pollution seems to be the banana skin on a sustainable future for all of us. We have been accustomed to growth and more growth. This has created the problem of how to contain polution to a level that will keep the earth’s nature into balance and not destroy the world for our grandchildren.
Is the answer to go back and use less instead of forever more? That’s alright for those that have excess but what about the hundreds of millions that still have to walk for miles to get a bucket of water or struggling to get a handful of food together?
Looking at countries that were poor like, Brazil, China and India is suggesting that economies can pull out of poverty. I suppose the wealthy countries might well go into economic hibernation while the time might have arrived for the traditionally poor countries to flourish and shine.
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Gerard, I posted a link for you in view of what you say here. (please see above).
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I think that us Westerners often forget that all of this great economic growth always comes at some sort of cost, either the poor working as slaves, or by exploiting the poor of other countries, or by digging stuff up and getting rid of it as soon as possible.
I find it interesting that nearly all of the research on solar heating/cooling/electricity comes from Japan, Germany, Spain and, now, China, yet Australia, with the highest solar irradiance per square meter in the world lags behind.
I think that the whole world is waiting to see what Japan eventually does with their nuclear generators, and, if they close, what it eventually does to create energy.
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That’s a really good point, Gerard. The problem with the exhortation to “use less” is that the people who use the least can least afford to use less.
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