TOKYO, Aug. 20 (UPI) -- A Japanese government estimate put the price tag at $39 billion in added energy costs as the country reacts to this spring's nuclear power plant disaster.
The partial meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which was triggered by the earthquake-generated tsunami in March, has prompted Japan to shut down 39 nuclear power plants, leaving only 15 still in operation, The New York Times reported Saturday.
The shift meant a sudden need for electricity generated by fossil fuels, leaving Japan to crank up shuttered power plants that are costly to run and put the country's pledge on greenhouse emission reductions on the back burner.
Japan had pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 6 percent by 2013 under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. Now, emissions are expected to rise by 16 percent by 2013, the Times reported.
