Staff Reporter

Project will cover 1.2m sq m.

Involves extracting radioactive substances from spent nuclear fuel.

Option will also keep Tepco alive to pay its debts. Japan’s government is discussing this radical overhaul of its nuclear power sector to rebuild an industry wracked by the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and strong public opposition to nuclear energy. The proposed sole operator that will handle all 50 reactors. will be owned by Japan’s nine regional utilities and two wholesalers (Japan Atomic Power Company and Electric Power Development Company). The government and local reactor makers will provide financial and technical support, said Taku Yamamoto, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party’s energy committee. Part of the profit from sales of the new company’s electricity will be used for the cleanup of Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (Tepco) destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant and victim compensation, which combined may cost over US$112 billion. The plan will keep Tepco alive to shoulder Fukushima costs and avert any blackouts in Tokyo, which will host the 2020 Olympic Games. Yamamoto said the plan is based on Tepco’s profits covering Fukushima costs without taxpayers’ money and to increase the government’s role in the nuclear industry. He said Tepco has to go on working hard for the Fukushima disaster until it dies.

Will maintain its current share of nuclear energy. Japan's government will maintain nuclear energy’s share in its energy mix with the proviso that safety is assured. Media sources said the Japanese government will revise its current energy policy, devised in 2010 by the end of 2013. The new policy will contain revisions and reflections upon the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear disaster of March 2011. Policy revision work will begin in November. A subcommittee called the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy will be in charge of revisions. Japan current energy policy calls nuclear power a key source of electric power. Japan also has a policy to increase the proportion of its power generation that produces no greenhouse gases or carbon dioxide to 70% non-emitting sources by 2030. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government intends to cut Japan's reliance upon nuclear energy wherever possible.

Start-up delayed for six years. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., the nation’s sole atomic energy producer, has test-started the first unit of the Kudankulam nuclear power plant in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The reactor was operated for two hours at a capacity of 175 megawatts. Station director Hari Narayan Sahu said the unit should run at half its capacity by Oct. 26 and reach its maximum output of 1,000 MW in six weeks while the second reactor should start in a year. Public rallies against Kudankulam are directed against the first two reactors, both of which are not covered by any liability law. The Kudankulam reactor is the result of a bilateral agreement between India and Russia signed before the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act became a law in 2010. The law makes atomic plant suppliers and builders liable in the event of nuclear accidents.

India’s total renewable energy potential is 150 GW. Despite this, India’s entire renewable energy sector contributes only 12% of India’s total power. About 65% of power from renewable energy sources comes from wind energy. Biomass accounts for 14%; small hydropower projects contribute 13% and solar energy 5%. Other sources contribute about 3%. The government intends to add 10 GW of solar energy by 2017 and 20 GW by 2022. India generates 1.8 GW of electricity from solar energy. India’s total installed power generation capacity stands at 223 GW, far less than the requirement. Demand for power is estimated to increase by 16 GW a year until 2020. The government plans to increase renewable capacity by 72 GW in the thermal sector; 11 GW in the hydro sector and 5 GW in the nuclear sector. Renewable energy sources contribute 29 GW of electricity. India expects to double this capacity to 55 GW by 2017. Solar energy generation alone will increase to 20 GW during this period under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar mission.

The energy's future looks bright for Asia.

Cites delays in carrying out exploration.

Boosted by commercial project installations.

Vital to cutting carbon emissions and promoting energy security.

Promise to promote energy and economic cooperation.

Expects steady market growth in China.

ASEAN’s energy sector is facing major challenges.  Demand for energy is expanding on the back of economic and population growth and greater urbanization, while indigenous resources are steadily shrinking.

The electricity demand is expected to grow in the world’s 16th largest economy and the fourth most populated country, Indonesia at an average of 10.1% per annum till 2031. In December 2012, Indonesia had a total installed capacity of 32,951 MW.

Based on even the most conservative estimates of Indonesian growth, demand for power in the already under-supplied archipelago will grow by 7% each year for the foreseeable future. While this would appear to make for a guaranteed return on new investment, systemic difficulties remain.

At the same time countries such as Iran proclaim nuclear energy development is “a matter of national pride”, China is evolving practical approaches to a new Asian power paradigm. While not yet abandoning fission and thermal plants, burning over 3.5 billion tons of coal in 2012, and exploring oxymoronic “synthetic natural” gas-i.e. “sin gas”, China is the first developed nation to comprehend and act upon the tightly interwoven environmental true costs of conventional electrical generation, fuel processing, and food production.