Japan unveiled a new nuclear roadmap that outlines the development and construction of new facilities and reactor technologies.

The announcement came just days after the minister in charge repeated the government’s long-held position that no new nuclear energy construction projects were on the horizon, and that the dialog around this was unresolved.

This is not the only mixed message emanating from Japan on its nuclear policies. PM Kishida is urging progress on nuclear energy to ease the nation’s reliance on fossil fuel imports, yet METI’s roadmap speaks of commercial prospects that are at least a decade or two away.

What’s more, the technologies depicted in the roadmap seek to maintain METI’s ambition to develop the holy grail of nuclear technology – a so-called closed fuel cycle, in which there is little waste and the uranium is recycled. And yet, the timelines presented by the ministry are hardly reassuring that this goal will be achieved.