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The long struggle against nuclear power in Japan

Environmentalists, meanwhile, say they remain undaunted by the Oi decision, which has become a watershed moment in their activism. 

Activists Brace for Long War Against Nuclear Power, By Suvendrini Kakuchi TOKYO, May 17, 2012 (IPS) – For the past two decades Masao Ishiji (59), has been fighting tooth and nail to ban the operation of four nuclear reactors that dot the western coastline of Oi in the Fukui prefecture facing the Japan Sea.

Earlier this week, that desperate battle reached a critical front. When the Oi municipal assembly passed a new resolution Monday to restart Unit 3 and 4 reactors that had been closed for a year for stress tests, anti-nuclear activists knew they had reached a crucial juncture in their fight to eradicate nuclear power from the country. 

“The new Oi decision is a blow to the anti-nuclear movement,” explained Yuki Sekimoto of Greenpeace, Japan. ” It is also a stark reminder of the excruciating position faced by the local residents. They have to chose between their jobs or stopping nuclear power, a very unfair situation.” ….
Local surveys conducted by Ishiji and his supporters from Wakasa, a town of 9000 people sandwiched between the Oi reactors, indicate residents are torn between loosing their jobs and facing a possible accident similar to the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami last March.

More than 90 percent of the 400 people polled said they were concerned about the lack of a safe evacuation plan in the face of another earthquake severe enough to damage reactors.

But the risk of ordinary people like local shopkeepers and innkeepers, who cater to the nuclear industry, loosing their jobs, also remains a grave threat.

“These are their biggest concerns. The Oi decision to restart the reactors has created a tense situation in the surrounding areas,” Ishiji reported at a large meeting of anti-nuclear NGOs in Tokyo on Tuesday. ….
The building of reactors was accompanied by generous subsidies from the central government for the construction of roads, schools and other infrastructure that brought jobs and revitalised the local economy….

May 18, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, opposition to nuclear