Following Eisenhower 's Atoms for Peace speech , the United States helped Japan develop their nuclear power program . When Japan decided to embark on the nuclear power field , it imported technology from the United States and obtained uranium from Canada , France , South Africa , and Australia . The first nuclear reactor was commissioned in 1966 , from then to 2010 , 54 more nuclear reactors had opened , with total generation capacity of 48,847 MW . The ratio of nuclear power generation to total electricity production increased from 2 % in 1973 to around 30 % in March 2011 . During the 1980s , Japan 's nuclear power program was strongly opposed by environmental groups , particularly after the Three Mile Island accident in the United States . In the 2000s , Japan had a few of the modern Advanced Boiling Water Reactor , including some of the first new advanced Generation III reactors . At Rokkasho , Aomori a facility was built to enrich nuclear fuel , deal with nuclear waste , and recycle spent nuclear fuel
Three Mile Island accident
Three Mile Island accident
Energy in Japan