Nuclear energy in Asia - The next fifty years

The industrialization in Japan and in the whole East Pacific region is based on a reliable supply of electricity which, in turn, relies on nuclear. power because of the the low level of native resources and the resultant dependence on imports. Cull-ent nuclear research programs are of a long term nature. While 70 nuclear generating units are in operation ii? the region, nr least another 65 are planned by 2020. All reactor lines are being examined for their suitability on an industrial scale. Thus, fast breeder technology occupies a firm position in the buildup of a closed nuclear fuel cycle ann in stretching out resources. The international cooperation of Japan with its neighbors in all sectors of nuclear power is incorporated in the programs of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which has been in existence for forty years in 1998.