NUCLEAR-POWER GENERATION IN JAPAN - PRESENT STATUS AND FUTURE-PROSPECTS

The paper outlines the present status and future prospects of nuclear power generation in Japan with emphasis on the situations peculiar to Japan. It first describes why among the many kinds of energy resources available, Japan has decided to follow a nuclear energy policy. Next presented is the current status of nuclear power generation with a brief review of nuclear power technology development. All phases of nuclear power generation from procurement of nuclear fuel to the waste disposal are covered. Social, political and technological problems that the Japanese electric power industry has to tackle in order to utilize fully nuclear energy are also discussed, together with the new technologies that will need to be developed to solve the problems effectively. As many quantitative data as possible are presented throughout the paper to provide a precise description.