Japan should use nuclear plants to offset Iran crisis, opposition party head says

TOKYO: Japan should operate all existing nuclear power plants to offset the impact of the Iran war on electricity bills, Japanese opposition party leader Yuichiro Tamaki said on Monday. Japan relies on the Middle East for about 95% of its oil supplies and 11% of its liquefied natural gas imports; About 70% and 6%, respectively, come from the Strait of Hormuz, which has been effectively closed due to war.

Tamaki, chairman of the People’s Democratic Party, said on Following the nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in 2011, Japan shut down all 54 of its nuclear power reactors, which provide about 30% of the country’s electricity. Thirty-three remained operational but only 15 were restarted.

Nine more reactors have applied to restart, according to data from the Japan Atomic Industry Forum, but their specific restart dates have not yet been determined. Oil prices rose more than 20 percent on Monday to the highest level in years as the widening U.S.-Israeli war with Iran fueled fears that supplies would be constrained, with industries in Japan already reporting an impact.
Mitsubishi Chemical began cutting ethylene production at its plant in Ibaraki, north of Tokyo, on Monday, the company said. As the Iran crisis widens, a Japanese lawmaker said Sunday that the government has ordered the government to prepare for a possible release of crude oil into a national oil reserve field. Japan has emergency oil reserves equivalent to 254 days of domestic use, but no decision has been made on whether to release some of the stockpile.