nuclear-news

Prime Minister Abe’s plan to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors is now under threat

Calls for Japan nuclear switch-off threaten ‘Abenomics’ Ft.com By Ben McLannahan in Tokyo , 23 Aug 13,  Yumi Murakami began her weekly vigils not long after the tsunami-induced meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant almost two and a half years ago. The 64-year-old housewife was at her usual spot outside the ministry of economy, trade and industry in Tokyo on Friday evening, bedecked in “No Nuke” badges, about to join a protest march to the prime minister’s house.

This week’s demonstration was vital, she said, following the disclosure from Fukushima’s operator that it had discovered a 300-tonne leak from one of the hundreds of jerry-built tanks holding contaminated water used to keep melted fuel cool.

“We can’t keep ruining people’s lives”, said Ms Murakami. Switching Japan’s reactors back on would be “hell”.

Shinzo Abe, beginning a five-day trip to the Middle East, was not there in person to see Friday’s protest. But the prime minister is acutely aware of the tensions between economic need and civil unease that elections have done little to resolve.

Mr Abe’s Liberal Democrats – the only party not calling for the elimination of nuclear power – comfortably won last month’s contest for control of the upper house of parliament. But turnout was low, as it was in December for the lower-house election that put the LDP in charge.

Opinion polls show significant shares of Japanese opposed to restarting the 50 reactors shut down in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, all but two of which remain idled. A survey this month by state broadcaster NHK found only 24 per cent of Japanese were in favour of restarting nuclear plants.

For Mr Abe, however, restoring nuclear power is a vital part of the grand project to pull Japan out of the deflation that has dogged it for much of the past 20 years…….

the Japanese utility seems likely to remain in operational control.

“Saying that the situation is beyond Tepco’s ability to manage, is different from saying they cannot do it any more,” said Yojiro Hatakeyama, head of nuclear policy at the economy ministry. “There could be a slight change of role, but they still have to be the main player in decommissioning. They know the plant; they know where the pipes are; they are the specialists.”

For many critics, that is not good enough. Tetsunari Iida, executive director at the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, a research group, describes Tepco, majority-owned by Japan’s government, as a “zombie company” trying to serve too many masters.

“They are trying to make money through supplying electricity, while trying to compensate victims and keeping Fukushima safe for 40 years. One entity cannot manage those three different duties.”

Michi Ishizuka goes further. The 62-year-old university researcher, using an iPad to marshal units of protesters at Friday’s demo, says that this week’s events should send a clear signal.

“The contamination cannot be contained”, he said. “I don’t believe that anyone has the power to control it.” Additional reporting by Nobuko Juji in Tokyo

August 24, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics