Japan considering development of new nuclear reactors

By MARI YAMAGUCHI
Associated Press

TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed his government to consider developing safer, smaller nuclear reactors, signaling a renewed emphasis on nuclear energy years after many of the country’s plants were shut down. Kishida made the comment at a “green transformation” conference on bolstering the country’s efforts to curb emissions of greenhouse gases. Japan has pledged to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. Anti-nuclear sentiment rose sharply in Japan after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, but the government has been pushing for a return to nuclear energy amid worries of power shortages following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a global push to reduce greenhouse emissions.