Japan intends to increase use of nuclear energy

By Alimat Aliyeva

Japan intends to increase the use of nuclear energy as part of the renewal of its energy policy, Azernews reports.

Japan reduced its dependence on nuclear energy after the Fukushima disaster in 2011 and increased the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation to 70 percent.

But due to the sharp rise in coal and gas prices and the Russian-Ukrainian war, the government is considering the possibility of wider use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar energy, to ensure a stable energy supply.

Any move to increase nuclear power by Japan, the world's second-largest importer of liquefied natural gas and the largest buyer of thermal coal, will affect fossil fuel exporters including Australia, Qatar, the United States and Indonesia.

The government has said the country will likely have to increase electricity production by about 50 percent by 2050 as demand from semiconductor factories and data centers increases. Energy companies and the industrial sector, in turn, are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear energy, as geopolitical tensions increase the risk of power outages and rising electricity prices.