Japan Should Promote Fast Breeder Reactors And Fusion’, Says Minister
Written by Nucnet
Monday, 19 October 2009
Japan should continue to promote the development of fast breeder reactors (FBRs), according to a senior government minister.
Tatsuo Kawabata, who heads the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in the country’s newly-elected government, said in an interview with Japanese media that the country should “steadily promote the development of FBRs, nuclear fusion and more”.
The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) said today that Mr Kawabata, who is also vice-president of the governing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), also warned that a national target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by the year 2020 from 1990 levels would be “difficult without quite substantial technological innovation”. The target was announced recently by Japan’s prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama.
The DPJ, which had opposed nuclear energy in the past, took office after defeating the coalition government of the Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito Party in last August’s general election.
