EU Energy Policy Blog

Immediately following the earthquake and tsunami residents within 20 kilometers (km) (12. 4 miles) of Fukushima Dai-ichi were evacuated and those between 20 and 30 km (12.4 to 18.6 miles) were advised to remain in their homes as shelter or voluntarily evacuate. Subsequently, the Japanese government considered extending the evacuation zone to 30 km but ended up establishing a 20 milli-Sievert per year (mSv/y) or 2 rem/y dose limit for establishing which areas would be evacuated.
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There is little disagreement that, with a few exceptions, renewable energy technologies tend to be more expensive than conventional options, especially considering their intermittent and unpredictable nature, which often requires backup generation or storage. Their main selling point is that they are non- or significantly less polluting. Renewables gain comparative advantage if a price were put on greenhouse gas emissions. This has always been among the main arguments for providing subsidies and encouraging their growth.
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