Japan’s election leaves the country still divided over nuclear power

Nuclear Issue in Limbo as Indecision Grips Japan NYT, TOKYO — Several industrialized countries have turned their backs on nuclear power as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including one that has already begun permanently shutting functioning plants. That country is not Japan.

“Germany chose to get rid of nuclear power because of Fukushima, while the United States is still in favor, but what about Japan, where the accident took place?” said Jun Tateno, who has written several books on nuclear power. “We still have not had a proper public debate about the most fundamental question: Do we want nuclear power’s low-cost electricity for growth, or do we want a safer, nuclear-free society?”

Many analysts had hoped that last Sunday’s vote to choose the next governor of Tokyo would provide just such a forum to that question, which lies at the heart of Japan’s struggle to find its economic footing after two decades of malaise. But the results of the contest — which included an impassioned though unsuccessful run by two antinuclear candidates, including a former prime minister — were unclear at best……

some analysts warned that Mr. Abe could still face a public backlash if he is seen as rushing to return Japan to its pre-accident status quo, especially if he fails to convince enough voters that the plants can be made safe.

“The no-nukes candidates lost, but that doesn’t mean there is suddenly a consensus in favor of nuclear power,” said Shiro Asano, a retired professor of politics at Keio University.

The election, in fact, appears to encapsulate the indecisiveness that has kept Japan paralyzed for nearly three years, since the triple meltdowns. After decades of marching forward in the belief that the resource-poor country needed cheap nuclear power to compete economically, Japan is no longer able to muster a new national consensus on it……

Are the majority of Japanese, who appear afraid to turn the plants back on, willing to enter an uncharted, nuclear-free future that might consign their country to decades of lower growth? That question has taken on new urgency as a rising China is challenging Japan’s influence in the region…….

Voters have chosen Mr. Abe’s pro-nuclear governing party in national elections, but then oppose an immediate restart of the plants in opinion polls.

That fuzzy message has left this consensus-driven country without a way forward, …..

even Mr. Abe has been unwilling to force the point by turning the plants on, while a new regulatory agency has appeared reluctant to risk a public backlash by declaring reactors safe to operate. ….

The two candidates who called for immediately scrapping all atomic power plants also fared better than the results seemed to suggest, winning a combined 1.9 million votes, just 200,000 shy of the victor’s tally. And the only avowedly pro-nuclear candidate of any stature, a former general, placed a distant fourth……

“Neither Abe nor Hosokawa is at the center of public opinion,” said Takeo Kikkawa, an expert on the energy industry at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. “A gradual phaseout remains the best answer for solving the nuclear problem while preserving growth.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/asia/nuclear-issue-in-limbo-as-indecision-grips-japan.html?_r=0