Japan is planning to build nine new nuclear power plants by 2020, and 14 by 2030, according to a draft strategy document by METI, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, a programme that would mean nuclear and hydro power together supplying 70% of the country’s total power.
Nuclear power’s security of supply and low-carbon output have made it a strategic priority for the country, the report said.
The report also specified that the 2020 plants should have a load factor of 85%; Japan’s reactors had a load factor of 84% in 1998, prior to the 2007 earthquake that shut down all seven units of Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, among others. The 2030 plants would have an even higher load factor of 90%.
