The Washington Post is reporting that Japan has shut down its last remaining nuclear reactor explaining that the reactor is undergoing routine maintenance. This makes the nation nuclear free for the first time since 1966. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
About two weeks ago I signed a petition for Avaz Organization in support of an association of governors who were trying their damnest to resist the enormous pressure to restart nuclear reactors in their prefectures (states.) As I submitted my name to the petition, I felt a sense of futility. The amount of coercion that bribery money carries in Japanese politics makes my home city of Chicago's politics seem squeaky clean. I had very little faith that a petition of support would be effective. What I did notice is that Avaz's nifty petition meter for people signing the petition of support for a nuclear free Japan was humming along nicely with a new signatory every second or so.
I admit I didn't have an understanding that local communities can block the resumption of nuclear reactor activity if a simple majority won't go along with the restarting of the reactors, and this is precisely what local activists have accomplished.
In the short term, Japan will suffer economically. Nuclear energy contributes 33% of the power to the electricity grid in this country, and summer's are brutal with 90% humidity, almost no wind off the Pacific and 85 degree temps day in and day out. Air conditioning is a necessity. Thermostats are now set at 70 degrees and at the college I teach at that's a clammy 27 degrees centigrade. The plus side of it is that neckties are no longer required from May 1st until October 1st. This makes a tremendous difference.
All that aside, it feels really good to be in a nation within the G20 that has taken the plunge, and forgone nuclear power. With Japan's electrical engineering prowess, a rapid production of solar panels should be a no brainer. From the heart breaking disaster at Fukushima, and from the ashes of Hiroshima where I reside, lessons have been learned, and grass roots, populist movements still work! I am optimistic things will work out for the Japanese in the long term.