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September 18, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
Editorial: Nuclear plant support measures run counter to official policy
社説:原発の支援強化　脱依存政策に逆行する

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is considering boosting support for nuclear power plants as Japan moves toward full liberalization of its electricity retailing market.
　電力小売りの全面自由化に備え、経済産業省が原発支援の強化策を検討している。

Under the system eyed by the ministry, consumers would shoulder the huge costs of building and decommissioning reactors so that even if there were an electricity price war, power companies wouldn't go into the red. In essence, the system makes it easy to build and rebuild nuclear power plants and maintain them in the future.
電気の価格競争が起きても、巨額の建設費や廃炉などのコストを消費者に負担させ、電力会社が赤字にならない仕組みを導入するという。新設や建て替えを容易にし、将来にわたって原発を維持するための仕組みと言える。

But proposals that attempt to extend the life of nuclear power plants when the government has yet to present a picture for the future of the nation's energy policies cannot be justified.
　エネルギー政策の将来像を示さないまま、原発の延命ばかりを図ろうとする政策には納得できない。

Nuclear power costs much more than thermal and other forms of power, yet for decades power companies have recovered expenses, protected by regional monopolies and the full cost pricing method that tacks the cost of producing electricity onto power bills.
　原発は火力発電などに比べて巨額のコストがかかる。電力会社は発電費用を電気料金に転嫁させる総括原価方式と地域独占という制度に守られ数十年にわたって、そうしたコストを回収してきた。

With the full liberalization of electricity retailing set to be implemented in fiscal 2016, however, those power companies will lose their regional monopolies. And then the full cost pricing method will be abolished. If more newcomers enter the electricity market and the price of electricity drops, it will become even harder for power companies to recover costs associated with nuclear power.
　ところが２０１６年度に予定される電力小売りの完全自由化で地域独占は失われる。総括原価方式もその後、廃止される。新規参入が増えて電気の市場価格が下がれば、原発のコスト回収は一段と難しくなる。

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry therefore proposed new measures to support nuclear power at a meeting to deliberate the role of the nation's nuclear power plants. With respect to the system guaranteeing a set price for electricity produced though nuclear power, the ministry proposed that the cost of decommissioning nuclear reactors and the disposing of spent nuclear fuel be made part of a standard price, with consumers forced to cover the difference if the market price falls below that standard.
　そこで経産省は、原発のあり方などを議論する審議会で新たな原発支援策を提案した。そのうち原発で発電した電気に一定の販売価格を保証する制度は、廃炉や使用済み核燃料の処分に必要な費用も含めて基準価格を設け、市場価格がそれを下回った場合は、その差額分を全国の消費者の電気料金に上乗せすることで穴埋めする仕組みだ。

The ministry is also reportedly set to consider revisions to accounting systems to ease the effects of reactor decommissioning on management.
　さらに、廃炉による経営への影響を緩和するための会計制度見直しなども検討するという。

In terms of fuel alone, nuclear power plants can be run more cheaply than oil-fired power plants or those running on liquefied natural gas. This is probably why power companies are rushing to restart reactors. But when it comes to building a new nuclear plant or rebuilding an existing one, then the circumstances are entirely different. The latest support measures indicate that if market principles were to be given free reign, then the option of maintaining nuclear power would vanish.
　原発は、燃料費だけで比べれば液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）や石油火力などに比べて安上がりだ。電力会社が再稼働を急ぐのもそのためだろう。しかし新設や建て替えとなると事情は一変する。今回の支援策は市場原理に任せた場合、原発を維持し続けるという選択肢はないことを物語っている。

The basic energy plan that the Cabinet approved in April this year states that Japan will aim to reduce its reliance on nuclear power "as much as possible." At the same time, it describes nuclear power as an "important base-load power source" and says the government will determine the level that should be secured. The proposed measures run counter to the policy of breaking with nuclear power. When considering the government's keenness to restart nuclear power plants, it seems that its real intention is to rely on nuclear power.
　政府が今年４月に閣議決定したエネルギー基本計画は、原発依存度を「可能な限り低減させる」として脱原発依存の方針を示す一方、原発を「重要なベースロード電源」と位置づけ、「確保していく規模を見極める」とした。今回の支援策は脱原発依存政策に逆行する。再稼働に前のめりの姿勢などを合わせると、政府の本音は原発依存にあるとうかがえる。

It is probably difficult to do away with nuclear power immediately when considering the importance of a stable supply of electricity, global warming countermeasures, energy security and other such issues. But Japan has gone through the Fukushima nuclear disaster, and it should be aiming to achieve a society that does not rely on nuclear power.
　電力の安定供給や地球温暖化対策、エネルギー安全保障などの観点から原発の即時全廃が困難であることは確かだろう。しかし、福島の原発事故を経験した我が国が目指すべきは、原発に依存しない社会であるはずだ。

The government should therefore outline a path for solving these issues and provide an explanation to the public. Policies that take nuclear power for granted will not win public support.
　政府はそのための課題と解決の道筋を描いて国民に説明すべきである。原発の存続ありきという政策では、国民の理解は得られまい。

毎日新聞　2014年09月18日　02時30分