Abstract
On March 11, 2011 a massive earthquake and accompanying tsunami devastated a significant part of coastal mainland Japan north of Tokyo. The loss of over 25,000 lives and major damage to residential, commercial and industrial parts of Japan have been overshadowed by round-the-clock news coverage concerning the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Exaggerated accident reports have prompted a debate on the wisdom of nuclear power generation. Thus, they have created a sentiment in Europe and North America discouraging expansion of their nuclear power sectors and encouraging a debate for their scaling down and eventual decommissioning.
These developments will not likely have a significant impact on the expansion of the nuclear power sector in Asia. In fact the Asia-Pacific region is the principle region for new global nuclear reactor projects. The Asian continent is determined to continue expanding its nuclear sector despite the Fukushima accident. The fundamental factors demanding the expansion of the nuclear sector in the pre-Fukushima period are still valid today across Asia; they will likely continue to remain so into the foreseeable future, ensuring Asia’s global rank as the main arena for new nuclear power facility development.
Reports on the Fukushima accident have portrayed it as another Chernobyl. This unrealistic picture has been the result of various factors and has helped create fear among many people regarding the accident’s negative effect on human health and safety. Hence, it is important to make a distinction between the myth and the reality of the Fukushima accident in order to understand why Asia will remain committed to its nuclear projects despite the accident.
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