Promoting Nuclear Power to Deepen the Energy Crisis ／エネルギー危機を深める原発推進

　Shallow minded politicians and bureaucrats are once again trying to promote the construction of new nuclear power plants under the guise of power shortage/energy crisis. Why they love nuclear power so much is beyond me. The nuclear waste produced by nuclear power plants is already dispersed and accumulated in many places in Japan, as much as one round of the JR Yamanote line. In the short term, the promotion of nuclear power plants is a money-grubbing scheme, and in the medium to long term, it will only deepen the energy crisis of the human race.

　This is because nuclear power plants have a negative energy balance. The logic can be seen by imagining if the energy (electricity) produced by nuclear power plants could cover the construction of one new nuclear power plant, and if there is an energy surplus. Can all the energy needed to build, operate/maintain, age, and dispose of a new nuclear power plant be covered by that plant, and will there still be a surplus?

　Nuclear power plants can only produce electricity. The mining of the various construction material resources (metal resources/concrete resources, etc.) required for new construction, the mileage load for shipping to the Japanese ports of loading and unloading, the mileage load for land transportation after unloading, and the energy required to operate power shovels and other construction equipment during construction can hardly be covered by electricity at present, which is only possible with the input of petroleum resources (gasoline, light oil, etc.). These are not covered by electricity, but are made possible by the input of petroleum-based resources (gasoline, diesel oil, etc.).

　Almost all of the energy required to mine uranium in South Africa, enrich it in North America or France, powder it, transport it, etc. is driven by petroleum. All of this is possible because oil is a cheap & easy energy resource that is liquid, has a high caloric value per mass, and above all, is "self-pumping. Nuclear power plants are "nuclear water heaters" that are powered and supported by cheap and easy oil, and it is no exaggeration to say that they are old technology in terms of power generation.

　This is a little old data, but the average construction cost of the four nuclear power plants of TEPCO's Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Station, whose construction started in the 1975's and operation started in the 1985's, was 310 billion yen per unit. The average construction cost for each of the four reactors at TEPCO's Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Station, which started construction in the 1975s and began operation in the 1985s, was 310 billion yen. This is only the cost of new construction, and does not include the cost of non-operation during the shutdown period for maintenance and inspection during operation, the cost of final decommissioning and disposal, or the cost of damage insurance to cover accidents. Of course, the cost of disposing of nuclear waste is also not included.

　Is it rational to get carried away by the immediate shortage of electricity and cling to a technology that, if built and operated, will be a money-grubber and waste precious petroleum for decades to come? I highly doubt its energy balance rationality and economic rationality. Above all, what to do with the nuclear waste that has already piled up is the top priority that awaits a solution, and this is precisely the point that requires a national discussion.

*See also.
1) Why is nuclear power profitable? (20190321 link updated): 本に溺れたい
(2) Nuclear power generation is a condominium without a toilet : 本に溺れたい