Fukushima Fallout: Alternatives to nuclear by James Tulloch After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami shut down Japan energy supply, liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers like this one stepped up supplies of the f uel to fill the energy gap. ( Source Reuters Japans nuclear crisis may prompt other countries to suspend, scale back, or even quit nuclear power. What would fill the resulting energy gaps? When you add" to the list including Three Mile Island'andChernobyl',the future for nuclear power looks bleak Those accidents stopped the industry in its tracks in North America and Europe respectively Could Fukushima be the Asian equivalent? Not in Asia, say energy experts. China, India, Korea and Russia are building the vast majority of the worlds new nuclear reactors. Some plans may be delayed, but they won't be scrapped Unless Fukushima blows up, I doubt it will be significant enough to put them off, "reckons Malcolm Keay, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. " Political ion and the financial costs of nuclear are less than in oecd countries Europe and America are a different story. Safety concerns could push aging reactors, like the ones at Fukushima, into early retirement, while escalating costs associated with higher safety standards and anti-nuclear opposition could scare investors away from the recent nuclear renaissance With delays and cost overruns endemic, the economics of nuclear power are controversial. A new plant in Finland, with the latest safety features, is four years overdue and massively over budget But if old nuclear reactors are not renovated or replaced, what will fill the energy gaps left behind? The UK gets nearly one half of its energy from nuclear power, Germany over one quarter, the United States one fifth. How will these countries keep the lights on? A Dash for Gas? We didn t have to wait long after the tsunami, or look far from Fukushima, to see one vision of the energy future. The supertanker that docked in Tokyo Bay three days later carried liquid natural gas (LNG). Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell had diverted the shipment to help Japan fill its sudden energy gap Natural gas is now the most likely substitute for nuclear energy, say many analysts, because new discoveries mean it is cheap. It is also readily available, it fits with existing infrastructure, and it is cleaner' than coal or oilFukushima Fallout: Alternatives to Nuclear 05 April 2011 by James Tulloch After the 2011 earthquake and tsunami shut down Japan's nuclear energy supply, liquid natural gas (LNG) tankers like this one stepped up supplies of the fossil fuel to fill the energy gap. (Source: Reuters) Japan’s nuclear crisis may prompt other countries to suspend, scale back, or even quit nuclear power. What would fill the resulting energy gaps? When you add ‘Fukushima’ to the list including ‘Three Mile Island’ and ‘Chernobyl’, the future for nuclear power looks bleak. Those accidents stopped the industry in its tracks in North America and Europe respectively. Could Fukushima be the Asian equivalent? Not in Asia, say energy experts. China, India, Korea and Russia are building the vast majority of the world’s new nuclear reactors. Some plans may be delayed, but they won’t be scrapped. “Unless Fukushima blows up, I doubt it will be significant enough to put them off,” reckons Malcolm Keay, Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies. “Political opposition and the financial costs of nuclear are less than in OECD countries.” Europe and America are a different story. Safety concerns could push aging reactors, like the ones at Fukushima, into early retirement, while escalating costs associated with higher safety standards and anti-nuclear opposition could scare investors away from the recent ‘nuclear renaissance’. With delays and cost overruns endemic, the economics of nuclear power are controversial. A new plant in Finland, with the latest safety features, is four years overdue and massively over budget. But if old nuclear reactors are not renovated or replaced, what will fill the energy gaps left behind? The UK gets nearly one half of its energy from nuclear power, Germany over one quarter, the United States one fifth. How will these countries keep the lights on? A Dash for Gas? We didn’t have to wait long after the tsunami, or look far from Fukushima, to see one vision of the energy future. The supertanker that docked in Tokyo Bay three days later carried liquid natural gas (LNG). Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell had diverted the shipment to help Japan fill its sudden energy gap. Natural gas is now the most likely substitute for nuclear energy, say many analysts, because new discoveries mean it is cheap. It is also readily available, it fits with existing infrastructure, and it is ‘cleaner’ than coal or oil