TOKYO: Japan is set to give the green light this week to restart the world’s biggest nuclear plant, local media reported Wednesday.
The resource-poor country pulled the plug on nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but it wants to revive atomic energy and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant is expected to get approval this week from the local governor to resume operations, according to Kyodo News and the Nikkei business daily, citing unnamed sources.
Hideyo Hanazumi, governor of central Niigata province, where the plant is located, is expected to hold a news conference on Friday, the reports said.
Of the seven reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, only one will resume functioning.
After the 2011 tsunami and meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, Japan shut down all of its nuclear reactors, with the public voicing unease about the energy source.
A total of 14 reactors — mostly in western and southern regions — have since resumed operation after strict safety standards were imposed.
This will be the first restart of a nuclear plant for Fukushima operator Tepco after the disaster, if approved.
The government has continued to back nuclear power as a reliable and clean source of energy that Japan needs as it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
In July, power company Kansai Electric said it was taking an initial step toward building the nation’s first new nuclear reactor since the Fukushima disaster.
Japan still faces the daunting task of decommissioning the Fukushima plant, which is expected to take decades.
In August, Japanese technicians sent in remote-controlled robots to one of the damaged reactor buildings as part of preparations to remove radioactive debris.
Dangerously high radiation levels mean that removing melted fuel and other debris from the plant is seen as toughest challenge in the decades-long decommissioning project.
Japan set to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant: reports
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Japan set to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant: reports
- The government has continued to back nuclear power as a reliable and clean source of energy that Japan needs as it aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050
UNICEF warns of rise in sexual deepfakes of children
- The findings underscored the use of “nudification” tools, which digitally alter or remove clothing to create sexualized images
UNITED NATIONS, United States: The UN children’s agency on Wednesday highlighted a rapid rise in the use of artificial intelligence to create sexually explicit images of children, warning of real harm to young victims caused by the deepfakes.
According to a UNICEF-led investigation in 11 countries, at least 1.2 million children said their images were manipulated into sexually explicit deepfakes — in some countries at a rate equivalent to “one child in a typical classroom” of 25 students.
The findings underscored the use of “nudification” tools, which digitally alter or remove clothing to create sexualized images.
“We must be clear. Sexualized images of children generated or manipulated using AI tools are child sexual abuse material,” UNICEF said in a statement.
“Deepfake abuse is abuse, and there is nothing fake about the harm it causes.”
The agency criticized AI developers for creating tools without proper safeguards.
“The risks can be compounded when generative AI tools are embedded directly into social media platforms where manipulated images spread rapidly,” UNICEF said.
Elon Musk’s AI chatbot Grok has been hit with bans and investigations in several countries for allowing users to create and share sexualized pictures of women and children using simple text prompts.
UNICEF’s study found that children are increasingly aware of deepfakes.
“In some of the study countries, up to two-thirds of children said they worry that AI could be used to create fake sexual images or videos. Levels of concern vary widely between countries, underscoring the urgent need for stronger awareness, prevention, and protection measures,” the agency said.
UNICEF urged “robust guardrails” for AI chatbots, as well as moves by digital companies to prevent the circulation of deepfakes, not just the removal of offending images after they have already been shared.
Legislation is also needed across all countries to expand definitions of child sexual abuse material to include AI-generated imagery, it said.
The countries included in the study were Armenia, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Serbia, and Tunisia.
