Regarding the article "Resumption of Sendai reactor highlights absence of waste sites" in the Aug. 12 issue, the idea that Japan can store its nuclear waste in an underground facility long term is just more pie-in-the-sky thinking.
The Finnish facility in Olkiluoto, the first of its kind, was located in a spot chosen for its lack of significant seismic activity. The odds of finding a comparable site in Japan? Zero. Yet the idea is to pretend that this is possible, and simply pass the buck down the road while continuing to milk the nuclear cash cow for now.
It's also worth pointing out that the cost of long-term disposal — 100,000 years let's remember — is not being factored into the current cost of what is always described as "cheap" nuclear energy. Yet even as Japan struggles to figure out what to do with its own nuclear waste, the Abe administration has allowed nuclear export deals that involve the repatriation of the waste from Japanese reactors sold overseas back to Japan!
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
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