"Japan nuclear power outlook bleak despite first reactor restart"

As reported by Reuters, of the 54 commercial atomic reactors that operated in Japan prior to the ongoing Fukushima nuclear catastrophe that began on 3/11/11:

"...analysis shows that of the other 42 operable reactors remaining in the country, just seven are likely to be turned on in the next few years, down from the 14 predicted in a similar survey last year.

The findings are based on reactor inspection data from industry watchdog the Nuclear Regulation Authority, court rulings and interviews with local authorities, utilities and energy experts. They also show that nine reactors are unlikely to ever restart and that the fate of the remaining 26 looks uncertain."

Although the article does not explicitly mention it, the six reactors at Fukushima Daiichi are counted as never to operate again. So too are the four reactors just seven miles south at Fukushima Daini. Reuters does not name the additional two reactors it has determined will never operate again. 

The article also reports:

"Four-and-a-half years after the events started unfolding at Fukushima Daiichi, the Japanese government, the nuclear utilities and the NRA have not succeeded in overcoming complete planning insecurity for investors. The outlook for restarts is as cloudy as ever," said Mycle Schneider, an independent energy consultant in Paris.

Schneider is a lead author of the annual World Nuclear Industry Status Report. The 2015 edition has a number of sections devoted to Japan, including the status of the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe, as well as the rest of the Japanese nuclear power industry. 

(A 55th reactor in Japan -- the Monju experimental plutonium breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture -- is also in serious trouble, as it has been for decades.) 

The article concludes:

But offering some hope to nuclear operators, some aging units may be given a new lease of life as the NRA considers applications for operation beyond the standard 40 years.

Two Kansai units, both around 40 years old, are being vetted for extensions. The regulator has said it would be very strict on granting permission, but Kansai is pushing for acceptance of less costly measures on fireproofing thousands of kilometers of wiring.

But the article neglects to mention that Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1, the first to melt down, beginning on 3/11/11, had only recently recieved its permit to extend operations beyond 40 years. That is, had it retired, as planned, it would not have been operating on 3/11/11, and likely would not have melted down.

(Some, including the Japanese Parliament's indendepent investigators, say the Unit 1 meltdown may have begun before the tsunami struck, due to damage from the earthquake alone.

And that first domino to fall, may have made the Unit 2 and 3 meltdowns, and the Unit 4 explosion, an inevitability, given the spiralling chaos on site.)