A156The impact of the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the United States, the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union (now the Republic of Ukraine), as well as other incidents such as the concealment of problems at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s nuclear power stations-which led to the closure for inspection of all 17 of the company's stations in 2003-put a crimp in the smooth development of nuclear power generation in Japan. Despite this, nuclear power is being reconsidered as an option for responding to global warming, as reducing dependence on oil, coal and other fossil fuels will help decrease carbon dioxide (C0 2) emissions.