#7: Japan Quakes; Nuke Power Stays Steady

Last March, after the Sendai earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan, the aftershocks of the disaster seemed to put the worldwide nuclear power industry on shaky ground. News of multiple core meltdowns and radiation releases spurred governments to drop nuke projects like radioactive hot potatoes. In Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan announced his support for a phaseout of the country’s dependence on nuclear power and proposed scrapping plans to have nuclear plants supply 50 percent of Japan’s electricity by 2030 (up from 30 percent in 2010).