Japan shifting back to nuclear to ditch coal, power AI [Video]

Glinting in the sun by the world’s biggest nuclear plant, the Sea of Japan is calm now. But as the huge facility gears up to restart, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa has a new tsunami wall, just in case.

Japan pulled the plug on nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but with the G7’s dirtiest energy mix, it is seeking to cut emissions, and atomic energy is making a steady comeback, in part because of AI.

At the 400-hectare (1,000-acre) KK plant, shown to AFP in an exclusive tour ,the 15-metre (50-foot) wall is just one measure to prevent another catastrophe and reassure the public and Japan’s jittery neighbours.

“We believe that (a similar accident to Fukushima) could be largely avoided,” Masaki Daito, KK deputy superintendent, told AFP. Japan now has “the strictest (regulatory) standards in the world”.

The facility in central Japan — like the nation as a whole — is no …