nuclear-news

Japanese government can override community opposition to nuclear reactor restarts

The new accident touched a nerve among the public at a time when Japan’s government is working to convince its people that atomic power is vital.

 Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura underscored that there was no legal requirement for local communities to sign off on the restarts.

Japan races to get nuclear reactors running again China Daily-Reuters  2012-04-06 About 12 tons of radioactive water has leaked at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant while the Japanese government is racing to get two nuclear reactors of Kansai Electric Power Company running again by next month.

Tokyo Electric Power Co said the leak was found early on Thursday from
a pipe attached to a temporary decontamination system, and the water
had already gone through some of the cleansing process. The operator
of the crippled nuclear facility also said that some of the polluted
water might have flowed into the Pacific Ocean.
A TEPCO spokesman confirmed the leak had been plugged and the utility
was probing the cause of the accident and how much, if any, water
flowed into the Pacific.
Accident casts doubt
The new accident touched a nerve among the public at a time when Japan’s government is working to convince its people that atomic power is vital.
Thursday’s news conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura underscored that there was no legal requirement for local communities to sign off on the restarts.
“However, we will go to the localities to explain new (safety)
standards,” he told reporters.
According to Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper, Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s
prime minister and three cabinet ministers were scheduled to meet also
on Thursday to discuss the possible restarts of the No 3 and No 4
reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co’s Ohi plant in Fukui prefecture,
western Japan – a region dubbed the “nuclear arcade” for the string of
atomic plants that dot its coast…..
“They want to avoid setting a precedent of the country operating
without nuclear power because it will create a huge barrier in terms
of restarts,” said Jeffrey Kingston, director of Asian Studies at
Temple University’s Tokyo campus.
“People will question why we need it,” he said.
The Japanese government is crafting a new energy mix formula, with
options for atomic power ranging from 0 to 35 percent of electricity
by 2030 against an earlier target of more than half…..

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