31 Oct (NucNet): The share of nuclear in electricity generation in Japan by 2100 is expected to be 67 percent and come from both fission and fusion reactor units.
In a supply-and-demand study called ‘2100 Nuclear Vision: Proposal Toward a Low-Carbon Society’, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) says the aim by 2100 is to reduce CO2 emissions by about 90 percent from current levels.
The study includes four major proposals:
• The use of renewable energy and nuclear energy must be increased.
• Nuclear energy will be used for power generation and also as a heat source in the production of hydrogen.
• Final energy consumption should be reduced to about 60 percent of current levels by 2100. The approximate component shares of each type of energy will be 60 percent for electricity – an increase of 25 percent from today’s level – 30 percent for fossil fuels (now 75 percent) and 10 percent for hydrogen.
• The approximate component shares for each type of primary energy will be 60 percent for nuclear (now 10 percent), 30 percent for fossil fuels (now 85 percent) and 10 percent for renewable energies (now 5 percent).
The JAEA said the total amount of generated electricity in 2100 is expected to reach around 1,700 billion kilowatt-hours, with nuclear accounting for about 67 percent, of which 18 percent will come from light water reactors (LWRs), 35 percent from fast breeder reactors (FBRs), and 14 percent from fusion reactors.
Installed capacity is expected to be about 370,000 megawatts (MW), with nuclear making up about 40 percent, of which 10 percent will come from LWRs, 21 percent from FBRs, and 9 percent from fusion reactors.
By 2100, 120 high-temperature gas-cooled reactors will be in use in the production of hydrogen, with a thermal capacity of 72,000 MW.
Today, Japan has 55 reactor units in commercial operation and two, Tomari-3 and Shimani-3, listed by the International Atomic Energy Agency as under construction. All seven units at the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant remain offline following a strong earthquake in July 2007. The nuclear share in electricity generation was about 28 percent in 2007.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Policymakers Urge Japan To ‘Increase Pace’ Of Fast Breeder Development (News No. 116, 5 June 2006)
Nuclear ‘At Forefront Of Japan Energy Policy’ As New Ministers Appointed (News in Brief No. 89, 12 August 2008)
