nuclear-news

Adjoining prefectures oppose restarting of Japan’s nuclear reactors

The Union of Kansai Governments, which is involved in setting electricity conservation targets, remains unconvinced that nearby Fukui’s reactors can be restarted safely, 

Analysis: Japan reactor restart debate swells beyond nuclear frontline By Yoko Kubota OTSU, Japan | Fri Apr 13, 2012  (Reuters) – Japan’s nuclear power industry had never spent much time or money winning over the hearts and minds of people like Susumu
Takahashi, a fisherman angling for small sweetfish from the serene shores of Lake Biwa, a world away from any nuclear reactor.

But with the industry paralyzed after last year’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, and badly in need of public trust to get moving again, itmay wish it had gone to the trouble.

“If Lake Biwa gets contaminated, then that would be irreversible,” said Takahashi, a doctor who regularly casts his line into the mountain-ringed lake in western Shiga prefecture, which contains none of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors but sits next to Fukui prefecture which
hosts 13 of them.

“The lake is in our hands now but it is also for future generations, and contamination would be passed down for generations. I am against the restarts of halted reactors,” adds the 61-year-old, sitting near a
box crammed with fish, each no bigger than a finger, soon to be fried
and served as tempura.

Prefectures like Shiga, which have never been courted by the nuclear
industry but lie close enough to reactors to be wary of them, are
emerging as a serious complication for government and industry efforts
to get nuclear power running again……
“We cannot say yes to restarts until we are certain that they are
absolutely safe,” Shiga Governor Yukiko Kada said in an interview with
Reuters last week.

She belongs to a union of local governments in and around Japan’s
second-biggest metropolitan area of Osaka, including Shiga and the
ancient capital of Kyoto, which has called for the government to heed
their concerns.

The union covers the politically powerful Kansai region and nearby
areas, with 16 percent of the nation’s population, a constituency that
Edano and his boss, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, can ill afford to
upset especially with his government’s support rating hovering at
around 30 percent.

The Union of Kansai Governments, which is involved in setting
electricity conservation targets, remains unconvinced that nearby
Fukui’s reactors can be restarted safely, despite assurances from the
government and the region’s nuclear utility, Kansai Electric Power Co.
“We, along with Kyoto, have asked Trade Minister Edano to come and
explain,” said Governor Kada, parts of whose prefecture are not much
more than 10 km (6 miles) from some of the reactors in Fukui whose
string of power plants is known as Japan’s “nuclear arcade”.

WHAT IS A SAFE DISTANCE?

For prefectures such as Shiga, whose Lake Biwa is one of Japan’s
largest sources of drinking water, the Fukushima disaster showed that
regions once considered a safe distance from reactors were also at
risk of contamination……
ALL RISKS, NO REWARDS

Lake Biwa spans over 670 sq km (260 sq m) and is home to trout and
carp. In spring, fall and winter, the wind often blows from the north
– from the plants in Fukui.

Unlike Fukui, and other prefectures that host nuclear plants, Shiga
feels as though it shares the risks of the nuclear industry but reaps
few if any of the rewards.

“In the case of Fukushima, the local communities that had hosted the
plants used to see some positive elements through subsidies,
employment and the economy,” Kada said.

“Shiga has absolutely no benefits in that sense. If we were just to
receive damage, then I cannot explain that to the residents,” said the
61-year-old Kada, a former professor of environmental sociology.

Shiga gets no tax revenues from nuclear plants. Two towns bordering
Fukui received about 140 million yen ($1.2 million) in subsidies
because of their proximity in the 2010/11 financial year.

That contrasts with Fukui prefecture, where about 12 billion yen ($150
million), or some 13 percent of its tax revenue, came from nuclear
power-related levies in addition to 9 billion yen in subsidies.

Towns in Fukui hosting plants have built expensive facilities, such as
cultural and recreational halls. Communities living close to plants in
the prefecture are set to receive about 20 billion yen ($247 million)
in taxes or subsidies linked to nuclear plants in 2012/13, the
Mainichi newspaper reported.

“There are few merits to having them around, even though if there is
an accident, we’re in the same position as Fukui,” said Masanori
Sugimoto, 68, a Shiga resident who nonetheless supports the restarts
due to concerns about the impact on Japan’s economy…..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/13/us-japan-nuclear-shiga-idUSBRE83C0BQ20120413

April 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear