Japan Aiming to Rebuild Up to 5 Nuclear Reactors by 2040s

Tokyo, June 5 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s industry ministry on Friday drew up a draft target to rebuild two to five nuclear power reactors by the 2040s as part of efforts to ensure stable electricity supplies. By setting a concrete numerical goal, the ministry will make it easier to secure human resources in the nuclear power industry. It plans to rebuild an additional nine reactors by the 2050s, bringing the total number of reactors subject to replacement to 11-14. The targets, presented to the day’s meeting of a subgroup of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, which advises the industry minister, will be formalized at a meeting of related cabinet ministers. Since reactors 60 or more years since the start of operations are being decommissioned one after another, the country’s power supply capacity is expected to decline considerably in and after the 2040s. The two to five reactors that are planned to be rebuilt by the 2040s have a combined power generation capacity of up to 2.2 million to 5.5 million kilowatts. The ministry aims to ensure the safe and steady decommissioning of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture as the top-priority challenge for the full-fledged restoration of the northeastern prefecture, as well as to develop related technologies and human resources. It also plans to work on developing next-generation reactors that are safer than existing models. In February 2025, the government adopted a new basic energy plan, which stipulates a policy to make maximum use of nuclear energy, in a turnaround from the previous push to reduce the country’s dependence of nuclear power generation, adopted after the March 2011 severe accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant. The government has set a target of raising the share of nuclear power in the country’s energy supply mix to about 20 pct in fiscal 2040 from 9.4 pct in fiscal 2024. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]