nuclear-news

Former Prime Ministers of Japan warn against restarting nuclear power

Fukushima disaster: Plan to send residents home three years after nuclear accident labelled ‘irresponsible’ ABC News By North Asia correspondent Matthew Carney 11 Mar 14″…….Turning reactors back on ‘a risk not worth taking’

The Abe government has said it is in the best interest of the economy to once again make nuclear power the core source of Japan’s energy.

It is worried that the reliance on imported coal and gas is threatening the country’s fragile economic recovery.

But a former prime minister, Morihiro Hosokawa, says it is a risk not worth taking.

“The causes of the accident haven’t been investigated properly. Contaminated water is still leaking, and compensation for victims hasn’t been sorted out,” he said. “I think in these circumstances it is very irresponsible to turn the reactors back on.”

He is backed by another former prime minister, Naoto Kan, who was in power at the time of the nuclear disaster in 2011.

Mr Kan says the current government does not understand the risk.

“They are trying to restart the nuclear reactors without learning the lessons of the March 11 accident,” he said. “If the accident had spread just a little further, then 50 million people around Tokyo would have been evacuated for a long time and that would have put Japan in chaos for 20 to 30 years.”

Mr Kan says no national evacuation plan has been developed, and in the rush to turn the reactors back on the government is ignoring the safety of the general public.”I submitted written questions to Prime Minister Abe and his response from the Nuclear Regulation Authority says it only decides on limited technical issues and won’t judge local disaster prevention plans; that is, whether residents can escape safely or whether the residents can ever return.

“It’s becoming clear they are trying to restart the reactors with no regard for people’s safety.” http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/plan-to-send-residents-back-to-fukushima-meets-opposition/5311046

March 11, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized