Photo by: Bloombeg
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) has welcomed the restart of a nuclear reactor in Japan, following the meltdown of a reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011.
The Kyushu Electric Power company this week reactivated one of the reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant, on the southern island of Kuyshu, and it was expected that the plant’s second reactor would be restarted in October.
MCA executive director for uranium Daniel Zavattiero said the restart of the Japanese reactor was good news for the Australian uranium sector.
“Japan has been a long-standing market for Australian uranium exports, providing around one-third of [that country's] total uranium supply, valued at around A$250-million.
“The restart of the nuclear reactor is timely given the debate surrounding the release of the [Australian] Coalition's emission reductions targets and the South Australian Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle.”
Zavattiero said the MCA was convinced that nuclear energy would play an important role in global electricity generation, given that it had the capacity to provide reliable baseload power and is virtually emission-free.
“The start-up of Sendai is a first step towards the [Japanese] government's goal of bringing the share of nuclear generation to 20% to 22% by 2030. It is also a strong indicator for the South Australian Royal Commission into the nuclear fuel cycle that the global nuclear industry continues to have a strong future.”
Prior to the Fukushima incident, some 30% of Japan’s energy needs were supplied from nuclear power.