An energy plan approved by the cabinet on Tuesday called for “maximising the use of nuclear energy” and dropped reference to “reducing reliance on nuclear energy”.

The energy plan, written by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry says that by 2040, nuclear energy should account for 20% of Japan’s grid supply in 2040, more than double the 8.5% share in 2023.

It comes as the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster from 14 years ago continues to hang over the country, conjuring painful memories.

In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake near Japan’s north-east coast spawned a tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people, wiping out entire towns and flooding the reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Japan now operates 14 commercial nuclear reactors, compared to 54 before the Fukushima disaster when 30% of the country’s energy was from nuclear sources.

The plan still needs approval by parliament, where it will be discussed in the coming months.

The country, which imports 90% of its fuel, needs to look to nuclear sources as part of its plan to cut back on carbon and be self-reliant on energy, said Daishiro Yamagiwa, an MP who was part of a government advisory committee on the energy plan.

“Because of the conflict in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, even fossil fuels have become difficult to buy,” he told the BBC. “Japan is a country without energy resources, so we must use whatever is available in a balanced way.”

Yamagiwa added that energy burdens are growing because of demand from AI data processing centres and semiconductor factories around the country.

But experts say increasing reliance on nuclear energy will be both risky and costly.

Japan will need to import uranium, which is expensive and will make the country reliant on other countries, said Professor Kenichi Oshima at the faculty of policy science at Ryukoku University.

Prof Oshima told the BBC the main concern is that increasing the number of nuclear power plants also raises the risk of potentially disastrous accidents.

He cited the 2024 New Year’s Day earthquake in the Noto peninsula, where two decades ago, a plan to build a nuclear plant was scrapped because locals opposed it.

“If there had been a nuclear power plant there, it is quite clear that it would have caused a major accident,” he said.

In Japan, any mention of nuclear energy inevitably brings back difficult memories of the nuclear meltdown at the Daiichi power plant.

“We all had such a terrible experience at the time of the Fukushima quake,” Tokyo resident Yuko Maruyama told the BBC.

“How could I support it [the nuclear energy plan]? I want the government to rely on other sources of energy,” she added.

“As a mother I think of the children, of their safety. I cannot help but think about what would happen in the future.”

The meltdown at Fukushima is considered the world’s worst since that of Chernobyl in 1986.

It stirred fresh controversy in 2023, when Japan started releasing treated water from the site of the Fukushima plant. This drew protests from Japan’s neighbours, including China, over safety concerns.

The United Nations atomic energy regulator IAEA said the waste water was safe and would have a “negligible” impact on people and the environment.

In response to the new energy plan announced this week, Greenpeace said promoting nuclear energy is “outrageous” when the fallout from Fukushima is still ongoing.

“There is no justification for continuing to rely on nuclear energy, which remains toxic for tens of thousands of years, produces radioactive waste that requires long-term management, and carries risks like earthquakes and terrorism,” the group said.

To meet the government’s goal, experts say 33 reactors must be put back online, but the current pace of safety checks as well as residents’ objections in some areas will make this difficult.

Many of these nuclear plants are old and will need to be refitted with new technology for them to function safely.

“That most difficult problem is that each nuclear power plant is in a different location and will need its own safety protocol and infrastructure,” Yamagiwa said.

“We must check each of them carefully. It still takes time.”

In recent months, regulators have given several old reactors approval to keep operating.

In October 2024 Japan’s oldest reactor, Takahama nuclear power plant, was given the go-ahead to continue operations, making it the first reactor in the country to get approval to operate beyond 50 years.

There has been speculation that the firm which owns the Bacton terminal in Norfolk has been interested in constructing a nuclear plant there.

Viaro said it was still in the early stages of any UK plans, but it was “pleased” that the government was “recognising the potential” of nuclear.

North Norfolk Liberal Democrat MP, Steff Aquarone, said he was “not convinced that nuclear power is the straightforward easy option its supporters suggest”.

On Thursday, the prime minister said he would “take on the blockers” and change planning rules, so new nuclear reactors could be built.

Viaro bought the Bacton terminal last year and in October said it had agreed a partnership with US firm Terrestrial Energy to develop a reactor project in the UK.

Since then there has been speculation from energy industry websites that it could develop a small nuclear plant at the Norfolk site.

The company said it was “still in the early stages of planning an evaluation of siting, macro-economic and policy factors to confirm the viability of the nuclear plant project”.

It added: “Only once this initial phase is completed will Viaro and Terrestrial be in a position to complete a detailed evaluation of potential target sites, including external factors on which the realisation depends, before any concrete plans for a plant are made, for what will be a complex multi-year endeavour.”

Mr Aquarone said it would be better to develop hydrogen production at the Bacton processing plant, which is 20 miles (32km) from Great Yarmouth and provides about one third of the UK’s gas supply.

“To make green hydrogen we need renewable energy, and I have today reiterated my call for more of the offshore wind infrastructure to help support the future electricity requirements at Bacton,” he added.

The report came as Iran prepared to hold talks with Britain, France and Germany in Geneva on Friday over its nuclear programme. Both sides agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue after the talks.

By also bringing more centrifuges already in place online, the confidential report outlined what Iran meant following a censure by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week at the request of Britain, France, Germany and the United States.

Iran had previously agreed to a demand by the UN agency to cap its stock of high-enriched uranium up to only 60 percent purity, well below the weapons-grade enriched level of 90 percent needed for a bomb.

According to the IAEA, Iran also intends to install 18 extra cascades of IR-4 centrifuges at that Natanz plant, each with 166 machines, the greater capacity meaning that it can enrich uranium at a faster pace, potentially increasing the risk of nuclear proliferation.

Tehran has repeatedly denied seeking nuclear weapons.

The talks in Geneva took place two months before US President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Tehran, which eventually resulted in Washington’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal with world powers and impose harsh sanctions.

Iran stepped up its nuclear enrichment in response.

Majid Takht-Ravanchi, a deputy to Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, represented Iran at the meeting.

Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister for legal and international affairs who was also at the meeting, said the two sides agreed to continue diplomatic dialogue in the near future. The European countries also confirmed continuation of political dialogue using almost identical language in their statements.

“We are firmly committed to pursue the interests of our people, and our preference is the path of dialogue and engagement,” Gharibabadi wrote on the social media platform X, saying the meetings particularly focused on Iran’s nuclear programme and lifting of sanctions.

On Thursday, the Iranian delegation met with Enrique Mora, the deputy secretary-general of the European Union’s foreign affairs arm.

Mora said on X that they held a “frank exchange … on Iran’s military support to Russia that has to stop, the nuclear issue that needs a diplomatic solution, regional tensions (important to avoid further escalation from all sides) and human rights”.

Iran’s Gharibabadi said the 27-nation bloc “should abandon its self-centred and irresponsible behaviour” on a range of issues including the Ukraine war and the Iranian nuclear issue.

The EU’s “complicit behaviour towards the ongoing genocide in Gaza” leaves it without moral authority to “preach” on human rights, Gharibabadi said.I

sraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country would do “everything” to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon after Araghchi warned Tehran could end its ban on developing one if Western sanctions are reimposed.