More good news on the environmental front line! On Tuesday, Sept. 18th, Japan made an announcement that it aims to have zero nuclear power by 2030. This announcement represents the government's first formal departure from nuclear power since the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster that took place in March 2011.

A report that was released last Friday from the Japanese government stated: "Based on facing the reality of this grave accident and by learning lessons from the accident, the government has decided to review the national energy strategy from scratch. One of the key pillars of the new strategy is to achieve a society that does not depend on nuclear energy as soon as possible. Every policy resource will be brought to bear to make it possible to have zero nuclear power plants in operation by the 2030s."

This came as good news to the Japanese public who in recent polls had indicated that the majority of the Japanese respondents favor zero nuclear power. Environmentalists also welcomed the decision but said it was long overdue. Greenpeace Japan nuclear campaigner Kazue Suzuki was quoted as saying that, "The nuclear phase-out comes nearly two decades later than needed but the new strategy makes it clear "that renewable power, not nuclear, is the future. This announcement must become law, otherwise it will be seen as nothing but lip service to buy votes before the coming election." There is some speculation that the move is a last-ditch effort by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government to garner favor ahead of the general election in November.

 Currently, only two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture are in operation. The document states that the government will temporarily reactivate the country's 50 remaining reactors halted after the Fukushima disaster if the new nuclear regulatory group, scheduled to debut Wednesday, deems them safe. But the reactors, (some built in the early 1970s) must be shut down once they reach an operating lifetime of 40 years, and no new reactors are to be built according to the plan. However under the new plan, the government will continue its program of recycling uranium and plutonium fuels.

 The government's strategy calls for renewable energy to account for about 30 percent of Japan's future energy. That's an eightfold increase from 2010 levels. Let us all hope that Japan follows through on this wonderful announcement.