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Despite the Nuclear establishment’s power, Japanese anti nuclear protestors persist

“The nuclear power industry is a strong political force here,” said Masae Yuasa, a professor of international studies at Hiroshima City University. “Their solution will be not to abandon nuclear technology; they won’t allow it politically. They’ll advocate spending even more money on nuclear power to perfect the science.”

The industry conducts detailed studies to find communities where resistance will be minimal. It pays millions of dollars a year to towns that agree to host a nuclear plant, building roads and hiring residents for well-paying jobs.

Japan islanders oppose proposed nuclear plant, year after year, For decades, residents of Iwaishima have taken an aggressive stand, turning their backs on negotiation. Graying residents, mostly in their 70s, have allied with young antinuclear activists., Los Angeles Times, By John M. Glionna, May 4, 2011

Reporting from Iwaishima, Japan—..”…… a utility company plans to build a nuclear power plant just across the bay, at the tip of the Kaminoseki peninsula. After receiving compensation, several nearby communities have hesitantly embraced the project.

Not Iwaishima. Many residents are convinced that the twin reactors will threaten not just their way of life but the long-term survival of the Inland Sea, a national park known asJapan’s Galapagos for its range of sea life.

The utility insists that the project is safe, but residents worry about radiation leaks caused by human error. They say the plant’s warm water discharge will raise sea temperatures, altering the ecosystem.

So for three decades, since the Chugoku Electric Power Co. unveiled its plans in 1982, islanders have taken an unusually aggressive stand, turning their backs on efforts at negotiation. Graying residents, mostly in their 70s, have in recent years formed an alliance with young antinuclear activists.

Together, they have staged hunger strikes, picketing and sit-ins, using a flotilla of fishing boats and kayaks to block company construction cranes from reaching the site.

…… Prime Minister Naoto Kan has suggested a possible nationwide freeze on Japan’s plans to build 14 or more nuclear power stations by 2030. The nation already has 54 nuclear plants…. It remains unclear what effect the Fukushima incident will have on Japan’s nuclear future, but other communities — stunned by the continuing nuclear fallout from Fukushima — are looking to the Iwaishima battle as a possible indicator.

“Without our protests, that plant would already be running,” said Masue Hayashi, 59, who began her opposition to the project when she was 30. “Those people near Fukushima could have been us.”……

“The nuclear power industry is a strong political force here,” said Masae Yuasa, a professor of international studies at Hiroshima City University. “Their solution will be not to abandon nuclear technology; they won’t allow it politically. They’ll advocate spending even more money on nuclear power to perfect the science.”

The industry conducts detailed studies to find communities where resistance will be minimal. It pays millions of dollars a year to towns that agree to host a nuclear plant, building roads and hiring residents for well-paying jobs.

Antinuclear activists believe a larger drive against nuclear power will have to come at a grass-roots level, as it has in Iwaishima.

On the Kaminoseki peninsula, both sides are ramping up for an even longer, more determined battle. Antinuclear activists plan a protest in Hiroshima they hope will draw 100,000 people.

As a show of its commitment to the Kaminoseki plant, the Chugoku Electric Power Co. has increased the budget for it to $430 million for the 2011 fiscal year, four times what it spent on construction in 2010.

….. This year, plant critics marked their 1,000th protest. Each Monday evening, barring rainy weather or a funeral, they march along the wharf as a reminder of what they’re fighting for…..http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-protest-20110504,0,2767498.story

May 4, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear