Despite the long-term outlook for the energy industry remaining uncertain, Japan’s nuclear industry must restart reactors, extend their operating lifetimes and improve capacity factors, the new president of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (Jaif) industry group said.

Shiro Arai said the nine commercial nuclear power plants in service in Japan is not enough to show the value of nuclear energy. He called for government and industry to address the need to construct new plants and replace older ones.

Mr Arai said Japan has a “low energy self-sufficiency rate” because it is poor in natural resources and heavily dependent on imports. This makes energy a matter of national security, with nuclear able to play a key role because it is a baseload source that can provide large amounts of power in a stable fashion.