Tag - energy

 
 

ENERGY

In recent months, some of the biggest would-be developers of green hydrogen have canceled projects, axed orders and scaled back investment plans.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Oct 4, 2024
Green hydrogen hype fades as high costs force project retreat
Some of the biggest would-be developers of the fuel have canceled projects in recent months.
Newly appointed industry minister Yoji Muto says there is no change to a government plan to safely restart nuclear power plants.
JAPAN
Oct 3, 2024
Japan to keep nuclear and boost renewables, new industry minister says
Yoji Muto says securing energy will be "the most important part of Japan's growth."
A nuclear accident that took place on Sept. 30 makes the front page of The Japan Times on Oct. 1, 1999.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Oct 1, 2024
Japan Times 1999: Nuclear accident hits critical mass
A second incident 25 years ago at the Tokai Nuclear Power Plant in Ibaraki Prefecture that exposes workers to radiation causes concern and challenges.
Employees of the Tokai village government in Ibaraki Prefecture offers a moment of silence on Monday to commemorate the 25th anniversary of a criticality accident that occurred at a facility of nuclear fuel-processing company JCO.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 30, 2024
Ex-mayor raps government for lack of preparedness for nuclear disasters
Tatsuya Murakami, who dealt with a 1999 nuclear accident as a village chief, warns against the pursuit of nuclear power without weighing its risks.
A Tokyo Electric Power Company employee uses a Geiger counter to check for radiation near storage tanks holding contaminated water at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in January 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2024
Tepco's Fukushima decommissioning effort is challenging — but making progress
Tepco believes that diligent monitoring by it and the IAEA over the past year supports the conclusion that water discharges from the Fukushima No. 1 plant are safe.
A series of satellite images from Planet Labs appears to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan, China, on June 15.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2024
China's newest nuclear-powered submarine sank this year, U.S. says
It was not clear if the sub was carrying nuclear fuel, but the accident has dealt a major blow to Beijing as it seeks to showcase its growing military prowess.
A container carrying spent nuclear fuel is unloaded from a ship at a port in Mutsu, Aomori Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2024
Interim storage facility in Aomori receives spent nuclear fuel
The start of the storage facility's operations is expected to give a boost to the government's plans to promote nuclear power generation.
The Three Mile Island plant made global headlines in 1979 with a partial meltdown at its Unit 2 reactor, the worst nuclear incident in U.S. history.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Sep 25, 2024
U.S. nuclear plants won't power up Big Tech's AI ambitions right away
Plans may be delayed by high regulatory hurdles, potential fuel supply obstacles, and sometimes stiff local and environmental opposition.
Birds rest on the banks of the Susquehanna River near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant south of Middletown, Pennsylvania, in March 2019.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 21, 2024
Microsoft AI needs so much power it's tapping site of U.S. nuclear meltdown
The decision is the latest sign of surging interest in the nuclear industry as power demand for AI soars.
Bulk carriers float offshore from Singapore, on Feb. 19.
WORLD
Sep 19, 2024
The shadow fleet transporting sanctioned gas for Russia
In the short term it could provide some wartime profit, but Moscow's ultimate goal is to triple LNG exports by 2030.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks during a news conference at the presidential office in Seoul on Aug. 29.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024
Yoon confident Czech nuclear plant deal will be completed
Westinghouse and EDF have appealed a deal made between the Czech Republic and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power.
Candidates for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election take part in a debate in Tokyo on Saturday. Of the nine candidates, three — Takayuki Kobayashi, Taro Kono, and Shigeru Ishiba — have been particularly vocal with their views on the country's energy strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 19, 2024
LDP presidential hopefuls face tough choices on Japan's energy future
Candidates must decide what role nuclear power will play in the government's long-term energy strategy.
Japanese government officials explain the decommissioning work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to attendees of an event held on Tuesday on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual general conference in Vienna.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 18, 2024
Japan briefs international community on release of treated water
The briefing was conducted on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency's annual general conference in Vienna.
The Ferrari of Charles Lecrerc, with a Shell logo placed prominently on the car's nose, during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 18, 2024
Energy companies have spent $5.6 billion on 'sportswashing': report
The report says soccer, auto racing, rugby and golf are the sports most sponsored by energy companies.
A worker inspects solar panels in Gansu Province, China, in 2013.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 16, 2024
China’s U.S. solar plants undermine domestic push, report says
The report comes amid increasing scrutiny of Chinese investment in U.S.-based manufacturing of the solar tech key to the transition away from fossil fuels.
Solar panels and wind turbines at a power plant in Hami in China's Xinjiang region. The U.S. and other countries have described China’s actions against Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, a key cog in the cleantech supply chain, as a genocidal campaign aimed at erasing an entire culture.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Sep 16, 2024
How China’s dominance of solar and batteries is impacting Japan’s energy transition
China has thrown its industrial might behind cleantech, putting Japan in a tough spot as it weighs human rights concerns against its climate targets.
The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2024
EV charging faces deeper problems than we realize
The core issue holding back the quicker adoption of electric vehicles is the high cost and complexity of installing DC fast chargers, essential for quick EV refueling.
The government is considering financial support for liquefied natural gas operators to secure storage tanks in Japan and abroad.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Sep 12, 2024
Japan considers company support measures for long-term LNG contracts
Possible measures included financial support for securing storage tank and a new program to assist LNG buyers committing to long-term contracts.
Environment Minister Shintaro Ito (right) receives the International Atomic Energy Agency's final expert report on Japan's plan to reuse soil and radioactive waste from decontaminated areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2024
IAEA supports Japan's recycling and disposal plan for Fukushima soil
After three expert safety review missions on the issue of contaminated soil since 2023, the IAEA says Japan's approach is consistent with international standards.
This handout photo from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings taken in July shows a set of pipes used for removing radioactive debris from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in the town of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 10, 2024
Tepco starts extracting radioactive fuel debris at Fukushima No. 1 plant
The move is a key step in the decommissioning of nuclear reactors crippled by a triple meltdown in the wake of the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan