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Nuclear power the central issue in Tokyo election debate

Tokyo election goes nuclear, Japan Times, 2 Feb 14 BY MASAAKI KAMEDAWhether the powers that be liked it or not, nuclear power took center stage in a debate involving four major candidates for the Tokyo gubernatorial election that was streamed live on the Internet Saturday.

Three of the candidates came out firmly against atomic power. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has done its best to keep the issue out of voters’ minds ahead of Sunday’s race, framing it as a national, rather than local, concern.

Packed with Abe allies, public broadcaster NHK appears to be downplaying the matter. A noted economics professor resigned last week as a commentator after being told not to discuss the nuclear issue until after the election on Sunday “to ensure fairness.”

But the debate, hosted by seven online firms including Dwango Co., Ustream Asia Inc. and Yahoo Japan Corp., has shown that nuclear power is very much an issue inside the mainstream.

“We have to break away from the system that depends on nuclear energy in the long run, considering the dismal state (caused by the Fukushima crisis),” former health minister Yoichi Masuzoe, 65, said during the 90-minute debate, which, according to the organizers, was seen by some 170,000 people

Previously noncommittal on the issue, Masuzoe said new energy sources, including shale gas and renewables, could be developed to reduce Japan’s dependence on atomic power.

Former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, running on an anti-nuclear platform, stressed that the issue is relevant to Tokyo residents.

“The principal duty of the Tokyo governor is to protect the lives of its citizens. . . . The nuclear issue would directly affect the people’s lives,” Hosokawa, 76, said.

If elected, Hosokawa said the metropolitan government would ask Tokyo Electric Power Co. to start using more renewable energy sources to replace nuclear power.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is the fourth-largest shareholder in the utility, with a stake of 1.20 percent.

Another opponent is Kenji Utsunomiya, former chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

“Nuclear power generation is not suitable in Japan, which has been hit by many earthquakes and tsunami,” the 67-year-old said. “We should not restart the idled reactors.”

Utsunomiya warned of the possibility of huge expenditures being needed to compensate nuclear accident victims and the high cost of decommissioning any reactors involved in a nuclear power plant accident …http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/02/02/national/tokyo-election-goes-nuclear/

February 4, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized