nuclear-news

Don’t restart nuclear reactors say 6 Japanese ruling party lawmakers

6 ruling party lawmakers propose to delay reactor restarts http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201204210011 April 21, 2012 The Asahi Shimbun By SHINICHI SEKINE/ Staff Writer Six lawmakers of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, elected from Fukushima Prefecture, home to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have crafted a proposal to postpone reactivating two nuclear reactors in Fukui Prefecture.

The lawmakers plan to hand the proposal to Prime Minister Yoshihiko
Noda, but officials at the prime minister’s office are reluctant to
arrange a meeting, fearing that the move will increase opposition to
the restarts within the DPJ.

“It is difficult for Noda to receive the proposal directly,” an aide
to Noda said.

The six lawmakers include DPJ supreme adviser Kozo Watanabe and Upper
House members Teruhiko Mashiko and Emi Kaneko. Foreign Minister
Koichiro Genba and Izumi Yoshida, parliamentary secretary for finance,
who are members of the Noda Cabinet, have not taken part although they
also belong to the DPJ’s Fukushima prefectural chapter.

The government on April 13 concluded that it is appropriate to restart
the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant, which were
shut down for regular inspections.

The six lawmakers criticized that the decision was made “too hastily”
and it disappointed residents of Fukushima Prefecture, many of whom
were forced to evacuate after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was
hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of March 11,
2011.

The proposal, compiled on April 19, also criticized the government’s
declaration at the end of last year that the nuclear accident has been
brought under control, saying that such a judgment is far from the
reality.
“(Residents of Fukushima Prefecture) have been forced to live hard
lives amid anxiety and fear,” the proposal said.

In addition to consent from the local governments that host the Oi
nuclear plant, the lawmakers said some conditions must be met before
the reactors are brought back online.

One condition is that the government must incorporate the findings of
the accident investigation committees of the government and the Diet
after they release the reports. Another is that the government must
establish new safety evaluation screening guidelines after a new
nuclear regulatory agency is set up.

Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato is strongly opposed to the government’s
plans to restart the Oi reactors, asking whether it understands the
severe reality of the nuclear accident.

One of the six lawmakers said, “(The lessons of) the accident in
Fukushima won’t be heeded if nuclear reactors are restarted before the
accident is brought under control.”

April 23, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics