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This is so unfortunate. I really hope political opinion slowly changes and people get a clearer idea about the risks vs benefits of latest nuclear tech.

Or will other countries wait till China shows them the way ? I have heard that German end users already pay one of the highest electricity rates in EU.

My understanding is that we need 1 good baseload alternative to wind & solar (even with storage) for events where extended blackouts due to weather events are expected.

Good news for Australia. I once flew from Sydney to Tokyo and the person sitting next to me turned out to be the negotiator for coal prices and volumes from Australia to Japan. He was a government employee and it made for a very interesting flight.

If they build these new powerplants in the right location, they can externalize polution. Would be nice if costs of such polution had to be paid by the same country/region, to disincentivize new coal use.

Too often overreaction is the real killer.
Im surprised they didn't go for a renewables + storage approach. Partly as they'll have to import coal (avoiding imports was why they went nuclear to start with I think) and partly because they have pretty abundant opportunities for offshore wind and wave/tidal power...
I have "abundant opportunities" (walking distance from home) to buy designer bags and luxury cars. Unfortunately neither would get me very far.

After Fukushima people aren't too enthusiastic about nuclear, which is sad but who can blame them when the government does a piss poor job managing the sector.

> Japan is second to China in financing coal plants in developing nations.

It's hard enough for me to consider China a developing nation these days, but Japan?

I assume that means providing financing to developing nations for the construction of coal plants.
Yes. You're completely right - I'm unsure how I missed that wholly-obvious interpretation.
If Japan isn’t developed, no where is.