• Focus Area Models, Data and Tools Models, Data and Tools
  • Type Discussion paper
  • Date 31 December 2018
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Abstract

The Japanese government’s decision to continue restarting nuclear power is shaped by a combination of domestic political concerns, energy security challenges, and its ability to meet climate change commitments and targets. Nuclear power plants have started to come back online, but there is still a question regarding the scope and timing for restarting the remaining reactors. In this paper, we apply a model of collective decision-making processes (CDMPs) to assess the political will for restarting nuclear power plants in Japan. We find that:

  • There is growing political will among Japanese stakeholders to restart nuclear reactors for power generation. Over the next several years, the current political trajectory indicates political acceptance of nuclear power among municipal and prefecture political leaders, who are currently the most significant and consequential opponents to nuclear power. Local governments have the ability to block the restart of nuclear power plants.
  • The process of regaining national support for nuclear power in Japan is expected to take several years of domestic political debate.
  • The Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) appears to be a credible and effective voice in building political acceptance of restarting nuclear power plants, given enough time. However, it is important that the NRA maintains its role as an unbiased and fact-based entity, to maintain its credibility with opponents to nuclear power.
  • Despite the turbulence in Japanese politics in 2017, the trend of slowly growing political will in favor of nuclear power appears to be largely unchanged.

Authors

Brian Efird

Brian Efird

Director of Strategic Partnerships Brian Efird is the Director for Strategic Partnerships at KAPSARC. His responsibilities include planning and oversight of KAPSARC’s global outreach…

Brian Efird is the Director for Strategic Partnerships at KAPSARC. His responsibilities include planning and oversight of KAPSARC’s global outreach and engagement, as well as forging multiparty collaborations that conceptualize and facilitate high impact, applied research projects in the areas of energy economics, policy, and sustainability. He previously served as the Program Director for Policy and Decision Science, managing a team of researchers that covered a global program of work focused on the nexus between geopolitics, domestic and local politics, energy, and climate change. This included multi-disciplinary analysis of the geopolitics of energy and the environment, quantitative models of collective decision-making processes (CDMPs), geospatial information system (GIS) applications to energy economics and energy policy, and the impact of political phenomena on global energy markets.

Dr. Efird was previously a Senior Research Fellow at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.; a consultant on defense and international security matters in Washington; and a consultant applying quantitative models to support corporate, investment banking, and legal negotiations in New York. He received a Ph.D. in Political Science and M.A. in International Studies from Claremont Graduate University.

Saleh Al Muhanna

Saleh Al Muhanna

Former Research Associate Saleh was a Research Associate in the Policy and Decision Science program. His interests lie in geopolitical research, international agreements…

Saleh was a Research Associate in the Policy and Decision Science program. His interests lie in geopolitical research, international agreements and international trade. Saleh holds a master’s degree in International Commerce and Policy from George Mason University and a B.S. degree in Economics from Pennsylvania State University.

Imtenan Al-Mubarak

Project Planning and Management Director Imtenan Al-Mubarak is a Project Planning and Management director. She was previously a research fellow at KAPSARC, focusing on policy…

Imtenan Al-Mubarak is a Project Planning and Management director. She was previously a research fellow at KAPSARC, focusing on policy research with an emphasis on data science and machine learning. Before joining KAPSARC, Imtenan worked at several companies in Chicago, and at Electronia in Dammam and Saudi Aramco in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. She holds a master’s degree with distinction from DePaul University, Chicago, for which she was awarded the Golden Key International Honor. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a member of several professional organizations. She is a Future Energy Leader at the World Energy Council in London and a board member at a non-profit organization in San Francisco. She also holds a patent in the United States (issued November 8, 2016).

Expertise

  • تحليل السلوك، دور نظرية الالعاب في الاقتصاد الحديث، نمذجة المساومات، المحتوي الرقمي، علوم الجيوسياسية و سياسات الطاقة والاقتصاد في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي بالاضافة إلى ادارة التحول واستراتيجيات التواصل

Publications See all Imtenan Al-Mubarak’s publications

Shahad Turkistani

Shahad Turkistani

Head of the Visiting Fellow Program and Assistant Researcher Shahad is head of the Visiting Fellow Program and an assistant researcher at the Asian Studies Unit at the King…

Shahad is head of the Visiting Fellow Program and an assistant researcher at the Asian Studies Unit at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies. She is the first Saudi female to intern in the Japanese Parliament (House of Representatives), where she experienced firsthand Japanese politics working closely with decision-makers.

Faisal Al-Ghamdi

Faisal Al-Ghamdi

Former Research Associate Faisal is a former research associate in the Policy and Decision Science team, focusing on geopolitical analysis and national security…

Faisal is a former research associate in the Policy and Decision Science team, focusing on geopolitical analysis and national security policies.

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