#20: Unsustainable Nuclear Power Plants (PART 4)

【Our Responsibility】
We’ve extensively assessed the third reason for the unsustainability of nuclear power plants – their true cost. And the second assertion: Japan can’t scrap its nuclear energy policy because, if we do, then our electric bills will be too high. Here, we’ve examined the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Grounds for Cost Reversal to demonstrate that this assertion is factually inaccurate.
 
1st: Safety Upgrade Cost of 3.3 trillion yen (US$29 billion). 2nd: Disaster Cleanup Cost of 879 trillion yen (US$7.7 trillion). And 3rd: Safety Decommission Cost of 336.1 trillion yen (US$3 trillion). For a grand total of 1,218.4 trillion yen (US$10.7 trillion). It’s important to remember that this cost – albeit colossal – covers only within the limitations of what can be reasonably estimated based on today’s science and technology.
 
Japan is known for its huge national debt, having by far the highest Debt-to-GDP ratio in the world. Yet, the colossal cost of nuclear power plants even exceeds that debt figure. And what’s more alarming is that METI, in its Annual Report on Energy, almost completely omits a mention of this colossal cost. Moreover, Abe administration and the nuclear advocates shamelessly continue to assert the cost efficiency of nuclear power generation, in hopes to restore additional nuclear power plants back online – and even build new ones. Their assertion is beyond irresponsible – it’s reprehensible.
 
Now, this colossal cost of 1,218.4 trillion yen (US$10.7 trillion). If we bring this astronomical figure back down to the ground level and think in terms of our living expenses, what does it actually mean?
 
As of 2017, approximately 126 million people live in Japan. This means that 9.67 million yen (US$86,000) in electric bill per person is overdue, above and beyond what has already been paid. For a family of three, the amount owed comes to roughly 29 million yen (US$258,000).
 
Let’s break this further down into monthly electric bill. Japan enjoys the world’s longest average life expectancy of around 83 years, which calculates to 996 months in average opportunity to pay electric bills – assuming payment from birth to death. During those months, each person is therefore presumably underbilled 9,700 yen (US$86) per month. For a family of three, the underbilled amount comes to roughly 29,000 yen (US$257) per month. If you believe in a very basic concept of paying for what you use yourself, then you actually should be paying more for your electricity every month.
 
This electric bill has already been incurred by erecting 54 nuclear power plants and allowing 1 Fukushima disaster. So, this cost of 1,218.4 trillion yen (US$10.7 trillion) is a very real, irreversible, electric bill.
 
Today, you won’t pay this expensive electric bill that you actually owe. Tomorrow, too, you probably won’t pay. For that matter, you probably won’t pay most of what you actually owe in electric bill during your lifetime. Yet, this extraordinarily expensive electric bill has already been incurred. Surely, someone must pay for what has already been incurred. So then, who? Who’ll get stuffed with the bill incurred by us who live here today?
 
That is, the people of the future. They’re our children and grandchildren. And their children and grandchildren. That’s who we’re stuffing, with the cost we’ve incurred but won’t pay, and the problems we’ve created but can’t solve. This is another example of an assertion, “As long as it’s good for me, then it’s fine for the others to suffer.” That is, “(Me First) = (You Suffer).”
 
Nuclear power plants are unsustainable. The reasons are clear as baby’s innocent eyes.

First Reason: When you “plan” for the “unpredictable” including volcanic eruptions and terrorist attacks, you already know it’s way too risky.

Second Reason: Our science and technology of today offer no viable solution to the daily mass production of extremely contaminated water polluted with dangerously high level of radioactive materials.
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Third Reason: The true cost of nuclear power generation is colossal, not even remotely comparable to the cost of thermal power.
 
And now, let us earnestly face the undeniable truth that we who live here today are responsible for the nuclear power plants. We’re responsible because we’ve been enjoying nuclear power generated electricity, and many of us continue to accept the ongoing use of this energy source. “There’s nothing I can do about it on my own,” one may say in passivity. Yet, no matter how passive your acceptance may be, the end result is the same – in essence, the acceptance of nuclear energy.
 
Because we live in such a time as this, the moral judgement of each and every one of us is being questioned. In elections, did you vote for candidates advocating a nuclear-free energy policy? Did you voice your thoughts against nuclear energy policy to people around you? Do we duck our heads in fear of the authority and its supporters? Or do we voice what is our moral obligation, to have the courage and principles to say “no” to what is unjust? Each choice such as these creates a bigger voice in our communities and ultimately even structures our world in which we’re all a part of.
 
Despite falling into the realm of pre-Fukushima fantasy which falsely allowed us to magically escape our responsibility by saying “We didn’t know,” now that we do know, we can no longer be excused.
 
And still, the true cost of nuclear power plants is endless. For example, 30.5 billion yen (US$270 million) spent on cesium-contamination inspections conducted on rice grown in Fukushima prefecture during the five-year period from 2012 to 2016. The cost of radiation-contamination inspection conducted on a variety of food types by countless farmers and producers. And more than anything, the immeasurable cost of health and environmental harms. The constant concerns of radiation contamination to the food that we all eat, worldwide. The residents’ agony of their livelihood hijacked and forever lost. The loneliness of the people forced to live apart from their families. The deepest sorrows of the people who lost their loved ones. And the hopelessness of the people who took their own lives in great despair.
 
The value of our livelihood. The value of our peace of mind. The value of our happiness. The value of all lives. And the value of life itself. How much are these values worth? How much are they worth to you?  
 
When we earnestly and honestly face these values and the reality of nuclear power plants, it’s obvious that nuclear power plants are unsustainable. To fulfill the responsibilities that so undeniably belong to us who live here today, let us take actions – by us who’ll live here from today.
 
 
Cost Overview of Nuclear Power Plants in Japan

• Safety Upgrades

            US$29 billion
 

• Disaster Cleanup = Liability Compensation + Decontamination + Disaster Decommission (Shelter Construction + Shelter Operation) + Melt-down Radioactive Waste Management

           US$7.7 trillion = $71 billion + $62 billion + ($5.5 trillion + $2.1 trillion) + ?
 

• Safety Decommission = Dismantle + Radioactive Waste Storage (Onkalo Construction + Onkalo Operation)

           US$3 trillion = $54 billion + $2.9 trillion
 
　Grand Total: US$10.7 trillion

Read Previous: Unsustainable Nuclear Power Plants (3)【Onkalo】
 
Complete Series: Unsustainable Nuclear Power Plants (1)～(4)
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