As of November 2015, Japan has one
nuclear power plant in operation.
Prior to the earthquake and tsunami of
March 2011, and the nuclear disasters
that resulted from it, Japan had
generated 30% of its electrical power
from nuclear reactors and planned to
increase that share to 40%. Nuclear
energy was a national strategic priority
in Japan, but there had been concern
about the ability of Japan's nuclear
plants to withstand seismic activity.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power
Plant was completely shut down for 21
months following an earthquake in 2007.
The 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused
the failure of cooling systems at the
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on March
11 and Japan's first-ever nuclear
emergency was declared, which caused
140,000 residents within 20 km of the
plant to be evacuated. A comprehensive
assessment by international experts on
the health risks associated with the
Fukushima I nuclear power plant disaster
concluded in 2013 that, for the general
population inside and outside of Japan,
the predicted risks were low and no
observable increases in cancer rates
above baseline rates were anticipated.
On 6 May 2011, Prime Minister Naoto Kan
ordered the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant
be shut down as an earthquake of
magnitude 8.0 or higher is likely to hit
the area within the next thirty years.
Problems in stabilizing the triple
reactor meltdowns at Fukushima I nuclear
plant hardened attitudes to nuclear
power. As of June 2011, more than 80
percent of Japanese now said they were
anti-nuclear and distrusted government
information on radiation. As of October
2011, there have been electricity
shortages, but Japan survived the summer
without the extensive blackouts that had
been predicted. An energy white paper,
approved by the Japanese Cabinet in
October 2011, stated that "public
confidence in safety of nuclear power
was greatly damaged" by the Fukushima
disaster, and called for a reduction in
the nation’s reliance on nuclear power.
All Japan's nuclear plants were closed,
or their operations suspended for safety
inspections. The last of Japan's fifty
reactors went offline for maintenance on
May 5, 2012, leaving Japan completely
without nuclear-produced electrical
power for the first time since 1970.
Despite protests, on 1 July 2012 unit 3
of the Ōi Nuclear Power Plant was
restarted. In September 2013 Ōi units 3
and 4 went offline, making Japan again
completely without nuclear-produced
electrical power.
On August 11, 2015, the Sendai Nuclear
Power Plant was brought back online. As
of November 2015 it is the only nuclear
power plant operating in Japan.
History 
In 1954, Japan budgeted 230 million yen
for nuclear energy, marking the
beginning of the program. The Atomic
Energy Basic Law limited activities to
only peaceful purposes. The first
nuclear reactor in Japan was built by
the UK's GEC and was commissioned in
1966. In the 1970s, the first light
water reactors were built in cooperation
with American companies. These plants
were bought from U.S. vendors such as
General Electric and Westinghouse with
contractual work done by Japanese
companies, who would later get a license
themselves to build similar plant
designs. Developments in nuclear power
since that time have seen contributions
from Japanese companies and research
institutes on the same level as the
other big users of nuclear power.
Between the early 1970s and today, the
Japanese government promoted the siting
of nuclear power plants through a
variety of policy instruments involving
soft social control and financial
incentives. By offering large subsidies
and public works projects to rural
communities and by using educational
trips, junkets for local government
officials, and OpEds written as news by
pro-nuclear supporters, the central
government won over the support of
depopulating, hard-on-their-luck coastal
towns and villages.
Japan's nuclear industry was not hit as
hard by the effects of the Three Mile
Island accident or the Chernobyl
disaster as some other countries.
Construction of new plants continued to
be strong through the 1980s, 1990s, and
up to the present day. While many new
plants had been proposed, all were
subsequently canceled or never brought
past initial planning. Canceled plant
orders include:
The Maki Nuclear Power Plant at Maki,
Niigata—Canceled in 2003
The Kushima Nuclear Power Plant at
Kushima, Miyazaki—1997
The Ashihama Nuclear Power Plant at
Ashihama, Mie—2000
The Hōhoku Nuclear Power Plant at
Hōhoku, Yamaguchi—1994
The Suzu Nuclear Power Plant at Suzu,
Ishikawa—2003
However, starting in the mid-1990s there
were several nuclear related accidents
and cover-ups in Japan that eroded
public perception of the industry,
resulting in protests and resistance to
new plants. These accidents included the
Tokaimura nuclear accident, the Mihama
steam explosion, cover-ups after an
accident at the Monju reactor, among
others, more recently the Chūetsu
offshore earthquake aftermath. While
exact details may be in dispute, it is
clear that the safety culture in Japan's
nuclear industry has come under greater
scrutiny.
On April 18, 2007, Japan and the United
States signed the United States-Japan
Joint Nuclear Energy Action Plan, aimed
at putting in place a framework for the
joint research and development of
nuclear energy technology. Each country
will conduct research into fast reactor
technology, fuel cycle technology,
advanced computer simulation and
modeling, small and medium reactors,
safeguards and physical protection; and
nuclear waste management. In March 2008,
Tokyo Electric Power Company announced
that the start of operation of four new
nuclear power reactors would be
postponed by one year due to the
incorporation of new earthquake
resistance assessments. Units 7 and 8 of
the Fukushima Daiichi plant would now
enter commercial operation in October
2014 and October 2015, respectively.
Unit 1 of the Higashidori plant is now
scheduled to begin operating in December
2015, while unit 2 will start up in 2018
at the earliest. As of September 2008,
Japanese ministries and agencies were
seeking an increase in the 2009 budget
by 6%. The total requested comes to
491.4 billion Japanese yen, and the
focuses of research are development of
the fast breeder reactor cycle,
next-generation light water reactors,
the Iter project, and seismic safety.
A 2011 independent investigation in
Japan has "revealed a long history of
nuclear power companies conspiring with
governments to manipulate public opinion
in favour of nuclear energy". One
nuclear company "even stacked public
meetings with its own employees who
posed as ordinary citizens to speak in
support of nuclear power plants". An
energy white paper, approved by the
Japanese Cabinet in October 2011, says
"public confidence in safety of nuclear
power was greatly damaged" by the
Fukushima disaster, and calls for a
reduction in the nation’s reliance on
nuclear power. It also omits a section
on nuclear power expansion that was in
last year’s policy review. Nuclear
Safety Commission Chairman Haruki
Madarame told a parliamentary inquiry in
February 2012 that "Japan's atomic
safety rules are inferior to global
standards and left the country
unprepared for the Fukushima nuclear
disaster last March". There were flaws
in, and lax enforcement of, the safety
rules governing Japanese nuclear power
companies, and this included
insufficient protection against
tsunamis.
As of 27 March 2012, Japan had only one
out of 54 nuclear reactors operating;
the Tomari-3, after the
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 6 was shut down. The
Tomari-3 was shut down for maintenance
on 5 May, leaving Japan with no
nuclear-derived electricity for the
first time since 1970, when the
country's then only two reactors was
taken offline five days for maintenance.
On 15 June 2012, approval was given to
restart Ōi Units 3 and 4 which could
take six weeks to bring them to full
operation. On 1 July 2012 unit 3 of the
Ōi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted.
This reactor can provide 1,180 MW of
electricity. On 21 July 2012 unit 4 was
restarted, also 1,180 MW. The reactor
was shut down again on 14 September
2013, again leaving Japan with no
operating power reactors.
Government figures in the 2014 Annual
Report on Energy show that Japan
depended on imported fossil fuels for
88% of its electricity in fiscal year
2013, compared with 62% in fiscal 2010.
Without significant nuclear power, the
country was self-sufficient for just 6%
of its energy demand in 2012, compared
with 20% in 2010. The additional fuel
costs to compensate for its nuclear
reactors being idled was ¥3.6 trillion.
In parallel, domestic energy users have
seen a 19.4% increase in their energy
bills between 2010 and 2013, while
industrial users have seen their costs
rise 28.4% over the same period.
The National Diet of Japan Fukushima
Nuclear Accident Independent
Investigation Commission is the first
independent investigation commission by
the National Diet in the 66-year history
of Japan’s constitutional government.
NAICC was established on December 8,
2011 with the mission to investigate the
direct and indirect causes of the
Fukushima nuclear accident. NAICC
submitted its inquiry report to both
houses on July 5, 2012. The 10-member
commission compiled its report based on
more than 1,167 interviews and 900 hours
of hearings. It was a six-month
independent investigation, the first of
its kind with wide-ranging subpoena
powers in Japan's constitutional
history, which held public hearings with
former Prime Minister Naoto Kan and
Tokyo Electric Power Co's former
president Masataka Shimizu, who gave
conflicting accounts of the disaster
response. The commission chairman,
Kiyoshi Kurokawa, declared with respect
to the Fukushima nuclear incident: “It
was a profoundly man-made disaster —
that could and should have been foreseen
and prevented.” He added that the
"fundamental causes" of the disaster
were rooted in "the ingrained
conventions of Japanese culture." The
report outlines errors and willful
negligence at the plant before the 2011
Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on March
11, 2011 and a flawed response in the
hours, days and weeks that followed. It
also offers recommendations and
encourages Japan's parliament to
"thoroughly debate and deliberate" the
suggestions.
Japan's new energy plan, approved by the
Liberal Democratic Party cabinet in
April 2014, calls nuclear power "the
country's most important power source".
Reversing a decision by the previous
Democratic Party, the government will
re-open nuclear plants, aiming for "a
realistic and balanced energy
structure". In May 2014 the Fukui
District Court blocked the restart of
the Oi reactors. In April 2015 courts
blocked the restarting of two reactors
at Takahama Nuclear Power Plant but
permitted the restart of two reactors at
Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. The
government hopes that nuclear power will
produce 20% of Japan’s electricity by
2030.
As of June 2015, approval was being
sought from the new Nuclear Regulatory
Agency for 24 units to restart, of the
54 pre-Fukushima units. The units also
have to be approved by the local
prefecture authorities before
restarting.
In July 2015 fuel loading was completed
at the Sendai-1 nuclear plant, with a
planned startup in 30 days. Japan’s
Nuclear Regulatory Authority approved
the restart of Ikata-3, this reactor is
the fifth to receive approval to
restart.
Seismicity 
Japan has had a long history of
earthquakes and seismic activity, and
destructive earthquakes, often resulting
in tsunamis, occur several times a
century. Due to this, concern has been
expressed about the particular risks of
constructing and operating nuclear power
plants in Japan. Amory Lovins has said:
"An earthquake-and-tsunami zone crowded
with 127 million people is an un-wise
place for 54 reactors". To date, the
most serious seismic-related accident
has been the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
disaster, following the 2011 Tōhoku
earthquake and tsunami.
Professor Katsuhiko Ishibashi, one of
the seismologists who have taken an
active interest in the topic, coined the
term genpatsu-shinsai, from the Japanese
words for "nuclear power" and "quake
disaster" to express the potential
worst-case catastrophe that could ensue.
Dr Kiyoo Mogi, former chair of the
Japanese Coordinating Committee for
Earthquake Prediction, has expressed
similar concerns, stating in 2004 that
the issue 'is a critical problem which
can bring a catastrophe to Japan through
a man-made disaster'.
Warnings from Kunihiko Shimazaki, a
professor of seismology at the
University of Tokyo, were also ignored.
In 2004, as a member of an influential
cabinet office committee on offshore
earthquakes, Mr. Shimazaki "warned that
Fukushima's coast was vulnerable to
tsunamis more than twice as tall as the
forecasts of as much as five meters put
forth by regulators and Tokyo Electric".
Minutes of the meeting on Feb. 19, 2004,
show that the government bureaucrats
running the committee moved quickly to
exclude his views from the committee's
final report. He said the committee did
not want to force Tokyo Electric to make
expensive upgrades at the plant.
Hidekatsu Yoshii, a member of the House
of Representatives for Japanese
Communist Party and an anti-nuclear
campaigner, warned in March and October
2006 about the possibility of the severe
damage that might be caused by a tsunami
or earthquake. During a parliamentary
committee in May 2010 he made similar
claims, warning that the cooling systems
of a Japanese nuclear plant could be
destroyed by a landslide or earthquake.
In response Yoshinobu Terasaka, head of
the Nuclear and Industrial Safety
Agency, replied that the plants were so
well designed that "such a situation is
practically impossible". Following
damage at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear
Power Plant due to the 2007 Chūetsu
offshore earthquake, Kiyoo Mogi called
for the immediate closure of the Hamaoka
Nuclear Power Plant, which was knowingly
built close to the centre of the
expected Tōkai earthquake. Katsuhiko
Ishibashi previously claimed, in 2004,
that Hamaoka was "considered to be the
most dangerous nuclear power plant in
Japan".
The International Atomic Energy Agency
has also expressed concern. At a meeting
of the G8's Nuclear Safety and Security
Group, held in Tokyo in 2008, an IAEA
expert warned that a strong earthquake
with a magnitude above 7.0 could pose a
'serious problem' for Japan's nuclear
power stations. Before Fukushima, "14
lawsuits charging that risks had been
ignored or hidden were filed in Japan,
revealing a disturbing pattern in which
operators underestimated or hid seismic
dangers to avoid costly upgrades and
keep operating. But all the lawsuits
were unsuccessful". Underscoring the
risks facing Japan, a 2012 research
institute investigation has "determined
there is a 70% chance of a magnitude-7
earthquake striking the Tokyo
metropolitan area within the next four
years, and 98% over 30 years". The March
2011 earthquake was a magnitude-9.
= Design standards =
Between 2005 and 2007, three Japanese
nuclear power plants were shaken by
earthquakes that far exceeded the
maximum peak ground acceleration used in
their design. The tsunami that followed
the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, inundating
the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, was
more than twice the design height, while
the ground acceleration also slightly
exceeded the design parameters.
In 2006 a Japanese government
subcommittee was charged with revising
the national guidelines on the
earthquake-resistance of nuclear power
plants, which had last been partially
revised in 2001, resulting in the
publication of a new seismic guide — the
2006 Regulatory Guide for Reviewing
Seismic Design of Nuclear Power Reactor
Facilities. The subcommittee membership
included Professor Ishibashi, however
his proposal that the standards for
surveying active faults should be
reviewed was rejected and he resigned at
the final meeting, claiming that the
review process was 'unscientific' and
the outcome rigged to suit the interests
of the Japan Electric Association, which
had 11 of its committee members on the
19-member government subcommittee.
Ishibashi has subsequently claimed that,
although the new guide brought in the
most far-reaching changes since 1978, it
was 'seriously flawed' because it
underestimated the design basis
earthquake ground motion. He has also
claimed that the enforcement system is
'a shambles' and questioned the
independence of the Nuclear Safety
Commission after a senior Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency official
appeared to rule out a new review of the
NSC's seismic design guide in 2007.
Following publication of the new 2006
Seismic Guide, the Nuclear and
Industrial Safety Agency, at the request
of the Nuclear Safety Commission,
required the design of all existing
nuclear power plants to be re-evaluated.
= Geological surveys =
The standard of geological survey work
in Japan is another area causing
concern. In 2008 Taku Komatsubara, a
geologist at the National Institute of
Advanced Industrial Science and
Technology alleged that that the
presence of active faults was
deliberately ignored when surveys of
potential new power plant sites were
undertaken, a view supported by a former
topographer. Takashi Nakata, a
seismologist from the Hiroshima
Institute of Technology has made similar
allegations, and suggest that conflicts
of interest between the Japanese nuclear
industry and the regulators contribute
to the problem.
A 2011 Natural Resources Defense Council
report that evaluated the seismic hazard
to reactors worldwide, as determined by
the Global Seismic Hazard Assessment
Program data, placed 35 of Japan's
reactors in the group of 48 reactors
worldwide in very high and high seismic
hazard areas.
Nuclear power plants 
Following the Fukushima I nuclear
accidents Prime Minister Naoto Kan has
announced that all 6 of the reactors at
the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant will
be decommissioned. For a list of nuclear
reactors in Japan, see List of nuclear
reactors.
On 6 May 2011, then Prime Minister Naoto
Kan requested the plant be shut down as
an earthquake of magnitude 8.0 or higher
is estimated 87% likely to hit the area
within the next 30 years. Kan wanted to
avoid a possible repeat of the Fukushima
nuclear disaster. On 9 May 2011, Chubu
Electric decided to comply with the
government request. In July 2011, a
mayor in Shizuoka Prefecture and a group
of residents filed a lawsuit seeking the
decommissioning of the reactors at the
Hamaoka nuclear power plant permanently.
In April 2014, Reuters reported that
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe favours
restarting nuclear plants, but that its
analysis suggests that only about
one-third to two-thirds of reactors will
be in a technical and economic position
to restart.
Nuclear accidents 
In terms of consequences of
radioactivity releases and core damage
the Fukushima I nuclear accidents in
2011 were the worst experienced by the
industry in addition to ranking among
the worst civilian nuclear accidents,
though no fatalities were caused and no
serious exposure of radiation to workers
occurred. The Tokaimura reprocessing
plant fire in 1999 had 2 worker deaths,
one more exposed to radiation levels
above legal limits and over 660 others
received detectable radiation doses but
within permissible levels, well below
the threshold to affect human health.
The Mihama Nuclear Power Plant
experienced a steam explosion in one of
the turbine buildings in 2004 where five
workers were killed and six injured.
= 2011 accidents =
There have been many nuclear shutdowns,
failures, and partial meltdowns which
were triggered by the 2011 Tōhoku
earthquake and tsunami.
= Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster =
According to the Federation of Electric
Power Companies of Japan, "by April 27
approximately 55 percent of the fuel in
reactor unit 1 had melted, along with 35
percent of the fuel in unit 2, and 30
percent of the fuel in unit 3; and
overheated spent fuels in the storage
pools of units 3 and 4 probably were
also damaged". The accident exceeds the
1979 Three Mile Island accident in
seriousness, and is comparable to the
1986 Chernobyl disaster. The Economist
reports that the Fukushima disaster is
"a bit like three Three Mile Islands in
a row, with added damage in the
spent-fuel stores", and that there will
be ongoing impacts:
Years of clean-up will drag into
decades. A permanent exclusion zone
could end up stretching beyond the
plant’s perimeter. Seriously exposed
workers may be at increased risk of
cancers for the rest of their lives...
On March 24, 2011, Japanese officials
announced that "radioactive iodine-131
exceeding safety limits for infants had
been detected at 18 water-purification
plants in Tokyo and five other
prefectures". Officials said also that
the fallout from the Dai-ichi plant is
"hindering search efforts for victims
from the March 11 earthquake and
tsunami".
Problems in stabilizing the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear power plant have
hardened attitudes to nuclear power. As
of June 2011, "more than 80 percent of
Japanese now say they are anti-nuclear
and distrust government information on
radiation". The ongoing Fukushima crisis
may spell the end of nuclear power in
Japan, as "citizen opposition grows and
local authorities refuse permission to
restart reactors that have undergone
safety checks". Local authorities are
skeptical that sufficient safety
measures have been taken and are
reticent to give their permission – now
required by law – to bring suspended
nuclear reactors back online.
Two government advisers have said that
"Japan's safety review of nuclear
reactors after the Fukushima disaster is
based on faulty criteria and many people
involved have conflicts of interest".
Hiromitsu Ino, Professor Emeritus at the
University of Tokyo, says "The whole
process being undertaken is exactly the
same as that used previous to the
Fukushima Dai-Ichi accident, even though
the accident showed all these guidelines
and categories to be insufficient".
In 2012, former prime minister Naoto Kan
was interviewed about the Fukushima
nuclear disaster, and has said that at
one point Japan faced a situation where
there was a chance that people might not
be able to live in the capital zone
including Tokyo and would have to
evacuate. He says he is haunted by the
specter of an even bigger nuclear crisis
forcing tens of millions of people to
flee Tokyo and threatening the nation's
existence. "If things had reached that
level, not only would the public have
had to face hardships but Japan's very
existence would have been in peril".
That convinced Kan to "declare the need
for Japan to end its reliance on atomic
power and promote renewable sources of
energy such solar that have long taken a
back seat in the resource-poor country's
energy mix".
= Other accidents =
Other accidents of note include:
1981: Almost 300 workers were exposed to
excessive levels of radiation after a
fuel rod ruptured during repairs at the
Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant.
December 1995: The fast breeder Monju
Nuclear Power Plant sodium leak.
State-run operator Donen was found to
have concealed videotape footage that
showed extensive damage to the reactor.
March 1997: The Tokaimura nuclear
reprocessing plant fire and explosion,
northeast of Tokyo. 37 workers were
exposed to low doses of radiation. Donen
later acknowledged it had initially
suppressed information about the fire.
1999: A fuel loading system
malfunctioned at a nuclear plant in the
Fukui Prefecture and set off an
uncontrolled nuclear reaction and
explosion.
September 1999: The criticality accident
at the Tokai fuel fabrication facility.
Hundreds of people were exposed to
radiation, three workers received doses
above legal limits of whom two later
died.
2000: Three TEPCO executives were forced
to quit after the company in 1989
ordered an employee to edit out footage
showing cracks in nuclear plant steam
pipes in video being submitted to
regulators.
August 2002: a widespread falsification
scandal starting in that led to the shut
down of all Tokyo Electric Power
Company’s 17 nuclear reactors; Tokyo
Electric's officials had falsified
inspection records and attempted to hide
cracks in reactor vessel shrouds in 13
of its 17 units.
2002: Two workers were exposed to a
small amount of radiation and suffered
minor burns during a fire at Onagawa
Nuclear Power Station in northern Japan.
2006: A small amount of radioactive
steam was released at the Fukushima
Dai-ichi plant and it escaped the
compound.
16 July 2007: A severe earthquake hit
the region where Tokyo Electric's
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
is located and radioactive water spilled
into the Sea of Japan; as of March 2009,
all of the reactors remain shut down for
damage verification and repairs; the
plant with seven units was the largest
single nuclear power station in the
world.
Nuclear waste disposal 
Japanese policy is to reprocess its
spent nuclear fuel. Originally spent
fuel was reprocessed under contract in
England and France, but then the
Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant was built,
with operations originally expected to
commence in 2007. The policy to use
recovered plutonium as mixed oxide
reactor fuel was questioned on economic
grounds, and in 2004 it was revealed the
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
had covered up a 1994 report indicating
reprocessing spent fuel would cost four
times as much as burying it.
In 2000, a Specified Radioactive Waste
Final Disposal Act called for creation
of a new organization to manage high
level radioactive waste, and later that
year the Nuclear Waste Management
Organization of Japan was established
under the jurisdiction of the Ministry
of Economy, Trade and Industry. NUMO is
responsible for selecting a permanent
deep geological repository site,
construction, operation and closure of
the facility for waste emplacement by
2040. Site selection began in 2002 and
application information was sent to
3,239 municipalities, but by 2006, no
local government had volunteered to host
the facility. Kōchi Prefecture showed
interest in 2007, but its mayor resigned
due to local opposition. In December
2013 the government decided to identify
suitable candidate areas before
approaching municipalities.
The head of the Science Council of
Japan’s expert panel has said Japan's
seismic conditions makes it difficult to
predict ground conditions over the
necessary 100,000 years, so it will be
impossible to convince the public of the
safety of deep geological disposal.
Nuclear regulatory bodies in Japan 
Nuclear Regulation Authority – a new
nuclear safety agency, under the
environment ministry, which was created
on September 19, 2012. It replaced the
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and
the Nuclear Safety Commission.
Nuclear Safety Commission 原子力安全委員会 – The
former Japanese regulatory body for the
nuclear industry.
Japanese Atomic Energy Commission 原子力委員会
– Now operating as a commission of
inquiry to the Japanese cabinet, this
organization coordinates the entire
nation's plans in the area of nuclear
energy.
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
原子力安全・保安院 – The NISA performs regulatory
activities and was formed January 6,
2001, after a reorganization of
governmental agencies.
Nuclear power companies 
= Electric utilities running nuclear
plants =
Japan is divided into a number of
regions that each get electric service
from their respective regional provider,
all utilities hold a monopoly and are
strictly regulated by the Japanese
government. For more background
information, see Energy in Japan. All
regional utilities in Japan currently
operate nuclear plants with the
exception of the Okinawa Electric Power
Company. They are also all members of
the Federation of Electric Power
Companies industry organization. The
companies are listed below.
Regional electric providers
Hokkaidō Electric Power Company - 北海道電力
Tōhoku Electric Power Company - 東北電力
Tokyo Electric Power Company - 東京電力
Chūbu Electric Power Company - 中部電力
Hokuriku Electric Power Company - 北陸電力
Kansai Electric Power Company - 関西電力
Chūgoku Electric Power Company - 中国電力
Shikoku Electric Power Company - 四国電力
Kyūshū Electric Power Company - 九州電力
Other companies with a stake in nuclear
power
Japan Atomic Energy Agency - 日本原子力研究開発機構
Japan Atomic Power Company - 日本原子力発電
JAPC, jointly owned by several Japan's
major electric utilities, was created by
special provisions from the Japanese
government to be the first company in
Japan to run a nuclear plant. Today it
still operates two separate sites.
Electric Power Development Company -
電源開発
This company was created by a special
law after the end of World War II, it
operates a number of coal fired,
hydroelectric, and wind power plants,
the Ohma nuclear plant that is under
construction will mark its entrance to
the industry upon completion.
= Nuclear vendors and fuel cycle
companies =
Nuclear vendors provide fuel in its
fabricated form, ready to be loaded in
the reactor, nuclear services, and/or
manage construction of new nuclear
plants. The following is an incomplete
list of companies based in Japan that
provide such services. The companies
listed here provide fuel or services for
commercial light water plants, and in
addition to this, JAEA has a small MOX
fuel fabrication plant. Japan operates a
robust nuclear fuel cycle.
Nuclear Fuel Industries - 原子燃料工業
NFI operates nuclear fuel fabrication
plants in both Kumatori, Osaka and in
Tōkai, Ibaraki, fabricating 284 and 200
metric tons Uranium per year. The Tōkai
site produces BWR, HTR, and ATR fuel
while the Kumatori site produces only
PWR fuel.
Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited - 日本原燃
The shareholders of JNFL are the
Japanese utilities. JNFL plans to open a
full scale enrichment facility in
Rokkasho, Aomori with a capacity of 1.5
million SWU/yr along with a MOX fuel
fabrication facility. JNFL has also
operated a nuclear fuel fabrication
facility called Kurihama Nuclear Fuel
Plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa as GNF,
producing BWR fuel.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries / Atmea -
三菱重工業 原子力事業本部
MHI operates a fuel manufacturing plant
in Tōkai, Ibaraki, and contributes many
heavy industry components to
construction of new nuclear plants, and
has recently designed its own APWR plant
type, fuel fabrication has been
completely PWR fuel, though MHI sells
components to BWRs as well. It was
selected by the Japanese government to
develop fast breeder reactor technology
and formed Mitsubishi FBR Systems. MHI
has also announced an alliance with
Areva to form a new company called
Atmea.
Global Nuclear Fuel
GNF was formed as a joint venture with
GE Nuclear Energy, Hitachi, and Toshiba
on January 1, 2000. GENE has since
strengthened its relationship with
Hitachi, forming a global nuclear
alliance:
GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy -
日立GEニュークリア・エナジー
This company was formed July 1, 2007.
Its next generation reactor, the ESBWR
has made significant progress with US
regulators, and as of July 2007, has
been submitted to English regulators as
well for the generic design assessment
process.
Toshiba - 東芝 電力システム社 原子力事業部
Toshiba has maintained a large nuclear
business focused mostly on Boiling Water
Reactors. With the purchase of the
American Westinghouse by 5.4 Billion USD
in 2006, which is focused mainly on
Pressurized Water Reactor technology, it
increased the size of its nuclear
business about two fold. Toshiba has
plans to continue significant expansion
in the next decade.
Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co.
A company formed by TEPCO and Japan
Atomic Power Co. to build a spent
nuclear fuel storage facility in Aomori
Prefecture.
Nuclear Research and professional
organizations in Japan 
= Research organizations =
These organizations are
government-funded research
organizations, though many of them have
special status to give them power of
administration separate from the
Japanese government. Their origins date
back to the Atomic Energy Basic Law, but
they have been reorganized several times
since their inception.
Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute -
日本原子力研究所
The original nuclear energy research
organization established by the Japanese
government under cooperation with U.S.
partners.
Atomic Fuel Corporation - 原子燃料公社
This organization was formed along with
JAERI under the Atomic Energy Basic Law
and was later reorganized to be PNC.
Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel
Development Corporation - 動力炉・核燃料開発事業団
This organization succeeded the AFC in
1967 in order to perform more direct
construction of experimental nuclear
plants, and was renamed JNC in 1998.
Japan Nuclear Cycle Development
Institute - 核燃料サイクル開発機構
Was formed in 1998 as the direct
successor to the PNC. This organization
operated Lojo and Monju experimental and
demonstration reactors.
Japan Atomic Energy Agency - 日本原子力研究開発機構
This is the modern, currently operating
primary nuclear research organization in
Japan. It was formed by a merger of
JAERI and JNC in 2005.
= Academic/professional organizations =
Japan Atomic Industrial Forum 日本原子力産業協会
is a non-profit organization,
established in 1956 to promote the
peaceful use of atomic energy.
The Atomic Energy Society of Japan
日本原子力学会 is a major academic organization
in Japan focusing on all forms of
nuclear power. The Journal of Nuclear
Science and Technology is the academic
journal run by the AESJ. It publishes
English and Japanese articles, though
most submissions are from Japanese
research institutes, universities, and
companies.
Japan Nuclear Technology Institute
日本原子力技術協会 was established to by the
nuclear power industry to support and
lead that industry.
Japan Electric Association 日本電気協会
develops and publishes codes and guides
for the Japanese nuclear power industry
and is active in promoting nuclear
power.
= Other proprietary organizations =
JCO
Established in 1978 as by Sumimoto Metal
Mining Co. this company did work with
Uranium conversion and set up factories
at the Tokai-mura site. Later, it was
held solely responsible for the
Tokaimura nuclear accident
Anti-nuclear movement 
Long one of the world’s most committed
promoters of civilian nuclear power,
Japan's nuclear industry was not hit as
hard by the effects of the 1979 Three
Mile Island accident or the 1986
Chernobyl disaster as some other
countries. Construction of new plants
continued to be strong through the 1980s
and into the 1990s. However, starting in
the mid-1990s there were several nuclear
related accidents and cover-ups in Japan
that eroded public perception of the
industry, resulting in protests and
resistance to new plants. These
accidents included the Tokaimura nuclear
accident, the Mihama steam explosion,
cover-ups after accidents at the Monju
reactor, and more recently the
Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant
was completely shut down for 21 months
following an earthquake in 2007. While
exact details may be in dispute, it is
clear that the safety culture in Japan's
nuclear industry has come under greater
scrutiny.
The negative impact of the 2011
Fukushima nuclear disaster has changed
attitudes in Japan. Political and energy
experts describe "nothing short of a
nationwide loss of faith, not only in
Japan’s once-vaunted nuclear technology
but also in the government, which many
blame for allowing the accident to
happen". Sixty thousand people marched
in central Tokyo on 19 September 2011,
chanting "Sayonara nuclear power" and
waving banners, to call on Japan's
government to abandon nuclear power,
following the Fukushima disaster. Bishop
of Osaka, Michael Goro Matsuura, has
called on the solidarity of Christians
worldwide to support this anti-nuclear
campaign. In July 2012, 75,000 people
gathered near in Tokyo for the capital’s
largest anti-nuclear event yet.
Organizers and participants said such
demonstrations signal a fundamental
change in attitudes in a nation where
relatively few have been willing to
engage in political protests since the
1960s.
Anti-nuclear groups include the
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center,
Stop Rokkasho, Hidankyo, Sayonara
Nuclear Power Plants, Women from
Fukushima Against Nukes, and the Article
9 group. People associated with the
anti-nuclear movement include: Jinzaburo
Takagi, Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburō Ōe,
Nobuto Hosaka, Mizuho Fukushima, Ryuichi
Sakamoto and Tetsunari Iida.
See also 
Energy in Japan
Nuclear Regulation Authority
Horonobe, Hokkaidō
Japan's non-nuclear policy
Japanese nuclear weapons program
Japanese nuclear incidents
Nuclear energy policy
Three Non-Nuclear Principles
United States-Japan Joint Nuclear Energy
Action Plan
Notes 
References 
Further reading 
Bacon, Paul, and Christopher Hobson.
Human Security and Japan's Triple
Disaster: Responding to the 2011
earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima
nuclear crisis
Dreiling, Michael. "An Energy Industrial
Complex in Post-Fukushima Japan: A
Network Analysis of the Nuclear Power
Industry, the State and the Media."
XVIII ISA World Congress of Sociology.
Isaconf, 2014.
Fam, Shun Deng, et al. "Post-Fukushima
Japan: The continuing nuclear
controversy." Energy Policy 68: 199-205.
Jackson, Keith. "Natural Disaster and
Nuclear Crisis in Japan: Response and
recovery after Japan's 3/11 and After
the Great East Japan Earthquake:
Political and Policy Change in
post-Fukushima Japan." Asia Pacific
Business Review: 1-9.
Kelly, Dominic. "US Hegemony and the
Origins of Japanese Nuclear Power: The
Politics of Consent." New Political
Economy 19.6: 819-846.
Kinefuchi, Etsuko. "Nuclear Power for
Good: Articulations in Japan's Nuclear
Power Hegemony." Communication, Culture
& Critique.
Kingston, Jeff. "Abe'S Nuclear
Renaissance: Energy Politics in
Post–3.11 Japan." Critical Asian Studies
46.3: 461-484.
Len, Christopher, and Victor Nian.
"Nuclear versus Natural Gas: An
Assessment on the Drivers Influencing
Japan's Energy Future." Energy Procedia
61: 194-197.
Nian, Victor, and S. K. Chou. "The state
of nuclear power two years after
Fukushima–The ASEAN perspective."
Applied Energy 136: 838-848.
Zhang, Qi, and Benjamin C. Mclellan.
"Review of Japan's power generation
scenarios in light of the Fukushima
nuclear accident." International Journal
of Energy Research 38.5: 539-550.
External links 
Nuclear power in Japan on the World
Nuclear Association website
