Prices are about to skyrocket worldwide!
Prices are about to skyrocket worldwide! In Japan, a declining nation, interest rates will have to rise; otherwise, the yen will weaken dramatically, making the inflation tax unbearably harsh. This is 99.9% certain to be Japan's near-future reality.
Electricity Prices Soar in Georgia, USA, Due to New Nuclear Plant Launch
August 2023: A pensioner's monthly electricity bill reached $618 (about double the same month last year), roughly \96,000/month.
July 2023: An engineer living in the suburbs paid $646 (a 60% increase compared to the same month last year), roughly \100,000/month.
Cause: Electricity rates spiked due to the additional construction costs of the Vogtle nuclear power plant.
New Units: Unit 3 (launched in July 2023) and Unit 4 (to launch in April 2024).
Construction Costs: Initially $14 billion → Over $35 billion (more than double), roughly \5.495 trillion.
Contributing factors: Safety measures post-Fukushima disaster, and rising labor/material costs.
In France, the Flamanville 3 nuclear plant under construction has seen its estimated costs quadruple to €13.2 billion, exceeding \2 trillion.
In comparison, Japan’s latest nuclear power plant, Hokkaido Electric’s Tomari Unit 3, which began operation in 2009, cost \290 billion—1/18.9th the cost of the latest U.S. nuclear plants. Japan erroneously evaluates the cost-effectiveness of nuclear power based on these outdated and ultra-low costs.
Japan's latest nuclear plant, as of 2023 estimates, is projected to cost \679.6 billion, only 1/3 to 1/8 of the cost of the latest global plants. Can such low costs ensure safe construction? And no matter how much seismic reinforcement is added to Japan’s over-50-year-old existing nuclear plants, can they truly be made safe? While surrounding structures can be reinforced, the core structural components cannot.
Even for houses, reinforcing earthquake resistance—such as enhancing the foundation—is naturally impossible. The durability of concrete is said to be about 60 years; for concrete subject to constant vibrations, evidence suggests a lifespan of only around 48 years, about 20% shorter.
Changes in Power Generation Costs: Nuclear Now Far Costlier Than Renewable Energy
Solar Power: $359/MWh in 2009 → $40 in 2019 (down 90%), about 1/4 the cost of nuclear.
Onshore Wind: $135 → $41 (down 70%).
Nuclear: $123 → $155 (increased).
China's Renewable Energy Push
World’s Largest Solar Plant: Spanning 130 square kilometers, generating 6 billion kWh annually (enough for 3 million households).
2023 New Solar Capacity: 216.3 GW (2.5x the previous year, surpassing the entire U.S. solar capacity).
Renewable Energy Ratio: 50% (higher than Japan and the U.S.).
Japan's Delay in Renewable Energy Adoption and the Power Sector's Entrenchment
2023 New Renewable Energy Capacity: 3.426 GW (about half the previous year’s).
Japan’s Solar Power Cost: \9.9/kWh (about double the global average).
Onshore Wind Cost: About triple the global average.
Globally, renewable energy is becoming "the cheapest power source," but high costs remain a challenge for Japan.
Japan imports nearly all its energy, with renewables accounting for 26% of total power generation in FY2023. Fossil fuels make up 66%, and nuclear 8%. By 2040, the government plans to increase renewables to 40-50%, nuclear to 20%, and reduce fossil fuels to 30-40%.
However, about 50% of energy is lost during transmission from large power plants to demand areas, releasing that energy as heat into the atmosphere—one of the worst ways to generate electricity in terms of "planet boiling." Local generation for local consumption, with solar panels and storage batteries installed near demand sites, is the most efficient method—a fact even middle schoolers can understand.
Japan’s Future: Rising Costs and Economic Decline
If Japan continues to fall behind in AI and faces further yen depreciation, import energy costs will skyrocket, exacerbating Japan’s high-cost structure and accelerating its decline. At that point, using ICE vehicles will undoubtedly cause a severe drop in productivity.
AI consumes enormous electricity, and in a high-cost energy environment, delays in AI adoption will also become a critical issue.
Japan is unfortunately led by terrifyingly underperforming leaders. They mask the painful realities of enormous national debt while the public remains ignorant, uninformed, and stagnant—a nation of intellectual stagnation.
★A Terrifying Future Chosen by the People: A Living Hell in the Present World