nuclear-news

Former Prime Minister of Japan Naoto Kan says the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is not over, despite nearly five years having passed since a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered the disaster.

“There is no doubt” radioactive materials have been seeping into the sea after mixing with underground water, Kan, who has been a vocal critic of nuclear energy since the accident, told the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said the issue of water contaminated with radioactive substances at the Fukushima plant is “under control” on various occasions including his presentation to pitch Tokyo as host of the 2020 Olympic Games.

“The accident is still unfolding” at the nuclear plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., Kan said.

Kan was prime minister when the world’s worst nuclear crisis after Chernobyl occurred following the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Kan, a lawmaker of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan, also criticized Abe’s decision to raise the ratio of electricity produced by atomic energy to 20-22 percent of the total output in 2030.

“The goal is not achievable” unless Japan extends the maximum legal period of nuclear plant operation or build a new nuclear plant, Kan said.Japan has halted most nuclear reactors since the Fukushima disaster out of concerns about the safety.