nuclear-news

84% of Japanese do not believe in safety of Japan’s nuclear reactors

84 percent say government stress tests for nuclear plant restarts inadequate: survey Mainichi Daily News 2 April 12, Despite the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) of Japan’s conclusion that the idled Oi Nuclear Power Plant clears safety standards required for resuming operations, 84 percent of the public do not believe that the government’s safety tests are sufficient, a Mainichi opinion poll has found…

.. 62 percent said they were against resuming operations of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors
at Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO)’s Oi nuclear plant in Fukui
Prefecture, far outnumbering the 33 percent who said they supported
the reactors’ restart. Meanwhile, only 10 percent considered the NSC’s
so-called stress tests to be sufficient, while 84 percent said that
they were not.

Discussions over a bill that would allow the launch of a new nuclear
regulatory agency have stalled in the Diet, postponing its April 1
inauguration date. Because of this, oversight of nuclear power will
remain under the jurisdiction of existing government bodies for the
time being, even though the public carries a great distrust toward how
government bodies have handled the disaster thus far. Even among
survey respondents who said that they agreed with the restart of the
two Oi reactors, 67 percent said the government’s stress tests were
insufficient……
On March 23, the NSC ruled that the initial stress test results of the
No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi plant — whose operations have been
halted for regular inspections — were satisfactory, thereby passing
the prerequisite for resuming plant operations. Prime Minister
Yoshihiko Noda and the three ministers involved are expected to hold
discussions and confirm the reactors’ safety, after which they will
move into talks with local host communities. The government will make
a final decision about the restart after obtaining the communities’
consent. The Fukui Prefectural Government and other local governments,
however, have shown resistance to the reactors’ restart.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120402p2a00m0na010000c.html

April 4, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear