“Japan — Fifteen years ago, this mountainous region on Japan’s northeast coast suffered one of the world’s worst nuclear power accidents.

Abandoned homes, offices and shops still dot the landscape — remnants of the evacuation after an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and released radiation. In the accident’s aftermath, nuclear power’s future seemed bleak, with Japan shutting off all its reactors as public opinion soured against the technology.

But the country is now rapidly moving to restart nuclear power plants, as artificial intelligence increases electricity demand and foreign wars throttle natural gas supply. Japan relies on natural gas for 30 percent of its electricity, almost all of it imported. The Iran war has further helped the case for nuclear, which can displace some of the liquefied natural gas that is stuck in the Persian Gulf.

This week, Japan will open its 16th reactor since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident — at a nuclear plant run by the same utility that oversaw Daiichi during the meltdown.”

From Politico.