Forum Post: Japan returns to nuclear energy

Despite an insane anti-nuclear policy dominating the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) since the Fukushima crisis, the reality of industrial collapse, economic breakdown, and an incalculable number of deaths that would have resulted from a decision to forego nuclear power in a nation which was 30% dependent on its 54 nuclear power plants, has forced the leadership to announce a dramatic change in direction, calling for the rapid re-opening of the nuclear plants which have passed the required safety tests.

Following the March 11, 2011 tsunami, the DPJ government declared that all the nation's nuclear plants, when they reached the required maintenance shutdown (on 13 month cycles) were to remain closed pending various safety checks, political debates and the approval of the local populations - usually meaning that the international anti-nuclear NGOs centered in London could stop any plants from re-opening. The last functioning nuclear plant was closed down in early May.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda did not declare himself opposed to nuclear power, but hid behind the demand that unspecified "popular opinion" must approve before plants culd be reopened. Noda's Minister of Economy, Yukio Edano, was less subtle, saying ""I'd like to see the reliance on nuclear energy cut to zero. I'd like to have a society work without nuclear as early as possible."

However, as the severe Japanese summer heat threatened to devastate the cities, which are built around reliable power supplies and air conditioning, political leaders realized that they would be held responsible for the horrendous death toll as well as the economic collapse. The first public break came from the populist Mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, considered a potentially dangerous demagogue and a fanatic opponent of nuclear power. On May 31 Hashimoto surprised the nation by reversed himself, announcing that "If we absolutely need them this summer, I think we need to accept a restart."

Then on June 8, Prime Minister Noda declared that "Cheap and stable electricity is vital. If all the reactors that previously provided 30% of Japan's electricity supply are halted, or kept idle, Japanese society cannot survive." He added: "Livelihoods should never be threatened by failing to restart nuclear reactors.... If a sudden blackout happens, some people's lives could be jeopardized."

American System vs British System

Lyndon LaRouche has often noted that there are two Japans — the tradition of the late19th Century Meiji Restoration, heavily influenced by the American System of political economy as developed by Alexander Hamilton, based on national credit for industry, infrastructure and scientific development; and on the other hand the British imperial, oligarchical system, which destroyed the Meiji tradition and dragged Japan into imperial wars with Russia, Korea, China and eventually with the US itself in the 1940s. The American System influence was restored after World War Two, with help from Gen. Douglas MacArthur's leadership of the post-war occupation.

The battle over nuclear power captures the essence of those two Japans — scientific and technological development, vs. zero growth, environmentalist anti-human idiocy. A parallel battle is taking place over trade, as the British, through the British agent Barack Obama now occupying the White House, are demanding that Japan give up its historic protectionist policy of self-sufficiency in rice, as a condition for being part of Obama's Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), an effort to create an anti-China free trade alliance in the Pacific basin. If the historic Japanese dedication to sustaining the livelihood of its people through sustained development and exports of high technology goods, it will restore its nuclear committment, including the export of its nuclear power technology, and reject the free trade mantra of the British Empire.

Developing the New Frontier in Asia

This past January, Russian Foreigh Minister Sergey Lavrov visited Japan, reversing a period of strained relations between the two scientific and industrial powers, and setting in motion the huge potential for Japan to contribute to President Vladimir Putin's ambitious plans for the development of the Russian Far East. During the visit, Russia agreed to ease restrictions on Japanese business ventures in Russia, and further consolidated plans for Japanese involvement in the development of the massive Chayanda gas field in the Russian Far East, as well as a nearly 3000 kilometer pipeline from the field to Vladivostok, and joint construction of a liquefied natural gas plant in that Russian city.

With Russia's development plans for the under-populated bit resource-rich Far East, including the construction of a tunnel under the Bering Strait connecting the US and Russia by rail, Japan, like China and Korea, can and must play a leading role in this new frontier for all mankind. That potential will be dramatically increased as Japan's nuclear industry is restored, along with their historic dedication to research on fusion and other scientific frontiers facing mankind.

http://larouchepac.com/node/23068