Leakage reported at Mihama nuclear power plant in Japan
Inside the power unit of the third reactor of the Mihama nuclear power plant in Japan, a water leak with radioactive elements occurred.
The nuclear power plant operator, Kansai Electric Power, says, according to Kyodo, that the accident will not affect the environment.
Before the accident at the Fukushima 1 nuclear power plant, nuclear power provided 30% of the country’s total energy consumption. After the disaster, it was decided to gradually reduce the use of nuclear power plants and close the reactors.
After the accident, they tried to compensate for the shortfall in nuclear capacity (which amounts to 66.2 million tons of oil equivalent) by increasing the import of minerals and producing their own energy from renewable sources – wind, solar, geothermal, biomass, and recycled waste. .
According to BP’s 2015 World Energy Statistical Review, Japan’s gas consumption rose from 94.5 billion cubic meters in 2010 to 112.5 billion cubic meters in 2014 (+19%), and coal consumption from 123.7 million metric tons. to 126.5 million tons during the same period (+2.2%).
Capacity in the renewable energy sector increased from 7.2 million metric tons to 11.6 million tons (+61%). In the first years after the disaster, there was an increase in oil imports.
Now the Japanese cabinet is studying the possibilities of restarting part of the nuclear power plant due to the global energy crisis.
In July, the company restarted the third unit of the Tahakama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture. From August 19, the power plant must start providing electricity on a commercial basis.
