nuclear-news

Japan: prefectures next to town of Oi don’t want Oi’s nuclear reactors restarted

Debate growing over ‘local’ reactor consent Governors of prefectures without units seek greater say in process Japan Times, By ERIC JOHNSTON, April 6, 2012 OSAKA — Dissent between those inside Fukui Prefecture who want two reactors in the town of Oi restarted quickly and those in adjacent prefectures who want to wait for stronger safety measures or are opposed altogether, highlights the dilemma Tokyo faces in obtaining local consent.

Over the past week, opposition to the reactivation of
the Oi plant’s reactors 3 and 4 among political leaders in Shiga and
Kyoto, as well as in Osaka, has grown stronger, even as support for
restarts in Fukui towns that host nuclear power plants has grown as
well.

At the heart of the debate is a question with legal and political
ramifications for not only Fukui and Kansai, but other regions of the
country that host or are near nuclear plants: What does local consent
mean?

Traditionally, when nuclear plants have been restarted after normal
periodic inspections, local consent meant the agreement of the towns
and the governor of the prefecture where the plants were situated. But
with plans to restart the Oi reactors, the central government has been
forced to present its case to the governors of Shiga and Kyoto
prefectures as well, both of whom are against restarts, citing the
need for a new safety regime.

Osaka’s leaders are going a step further. Earlier this week, a joint
municipal and prefectural energy strategy committee recommended that
the Oi reactors, which supply much of Osaka’s electricity, be
restarted only after eight conditions are met. One of these is to have
formal safety agreements with “local” governments within 100 km of the
plants, which would then include towns in northern Osaka Prefecture.

The panel’s recommendations were immediately backed by Osaka Mayor
Toru Hashimoto, who has said he eventually wants to get out of nuclear
power completely…..
in Shiga, Kyoto and Osaka, politicians and antinuclear activists warn
that rushing to restart could have dire consequences. Several point to
a 2003 report by Kyoto Sangyo University economics professor Park
Seung Joon, who estimated an accident involving Oi’s reactors 3 and 4
could create a radiation leak that would lead to 3.5 million cancer
cases in a 50-km radius, including the northern part of the city of
Kyoto.

More than 1 million people would die and total economic damage would
come to ¥460 trillion, according to Park.

The prefectures surrounding Fukui have also expressed grave concern
over how people living within 30 km of Fukui’s four commercial nuclear
power plants would be evacuated…..
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120406x1.html

April 7, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics