Japan's re-embracement of nuclear power will improve the country's energy security

in the long run and help it more easily achieve some of its climate goals. But the
country will still face immediate challenges from its post-Fukushima cumbersome
security review process and the unproven nature of more advanced nuclear
technologies. On Dec. 22, the Japanese government adopted a 10-year energy plan
to boost the country's beleaguered nuclear power sector, reversing a decade-long
policy that has seen Tokyo reduce the country's use of nuclear power and, at one
point, promise to eventually phase out the energy source completely. Under the new
plan, the Japanese government aims to ''maximize'' the use of its existing reactors by
restarting as many of the country's 54 nuclear reactors as possible. In addition, the
plan envisions Japan developing and constructing ''next-generation innovative
reactors'' to replace those that are set to be decommissioned. Japanese Prime
Minister Fumio...