Antinuclear

Those leaders knew better, of course. But absolute guarantees were the only way to bring the national psyche into line with what were, in an energy-poor country, powerful political and economic incentives.

The strategy worked. Japan ultimately built 54 commercial reactors, and before the Fukushima disaster there were plans for more. But the approach did nothing to make those reactors safer, and arguably made them less so. The need to maintain the myth prompted utilities and the government to dismiss suggestions that standards could be improved………

Today, all of Japan’s surviving nuclear reactors remain offline, despite efforts by successive governments to restart them. Shinzo Abe is the most pro-nuclear prime minister since the accident, and also the most popular. Yet much of the public remains sceptical. This week regulators are expected to certify the first plant since tighter safety standards were introduced a year ago, a move that could lead to the restarting of nuclear power production as early as autumn.

Mr Abe once said an accident such as Fukushima “could never happen”. Today he is more circumspect, talking about making Japan a world leader in nuclear safety rather than a fantastical land without risks. Yet the broader debate has not changed as much as some had hoped.