nuclear-news

5 million signed anti nuclear petition – enough for referenda in 2 Japanese cities

Japanese Anti-Nuclear Campaign Says It Has 5 Million Petition Signatures, VOA, 08 February 2012 Steve Herman | Tokyo A citizen’s group in Japan says it has collectedfive million signatures – halfway to its goal – on a petition calling on the government to permanently shut down all nuclear power plants in the country.

But amid traditional apathy among Japanese toward political movements and longstanding strong ties between power companies and lawmakers in a resource-poor country, anti-nuclear
campaigners are acknowledging an uphill struggle….

Petitioners in Tokyo and Osaka separately say they have collected enough signatures
for referenda in Japan’s two largest cities. But it is unclear if those campaigns will clear all the legal hurdles to get on the ballot.

The Fukushima disaster also gave rise to some of Japan’s largest
public protests in decades, which have been peaceful. But one of the
most prominent domestic anti-nuclear figures in the country, Nobel
laureate for literature Kenzaburo Oe, says citizens’ initiatives have
not gone far enough.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Oe called for a national referendum
on nuclear power. He contends Japanese seismologists have understated
the risk of earthquakes at reactor locations and that some nuclear
industry scientists in the country have reversed opinion and now
express doubts about the safety of Japan’s aging reactors. …
Oe also called for children in Fukushima to undergo detailed screening
for internal radiation exposure, comparing their plight to the victims
of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of
World War Two.  ….
http://www.voanews.com/tibetan-english/news/Japanese-Anti-Nuclear-Campaign-Says-It-Has-5-Million-Petition-Signatures-138941634.html

February 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics