nuclear-news

LOCALS FEAR MISTAKES NOT LEARNED FROM FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR DISASTER

Inside the Fukushima nuclear power plant, five years after the disaster was triggered by an earthquake and tsunami, news.c om.au,  MARCH 10, 2016 [EXCELLENT PHOTOS]

“……..as officials vow to prevent a repeat the disaster, some critics say Tokyo’s push to restart switched-off nuclear reactors is proof that the lessons of the tragedy have not been learned.

And many question whether Japan has done enough to tackle some of the key causes of the accident that unfolded on March 11, 2011 — an ill-fated belief in the nation’s disaster management and clubby ties between politicians, bureaucrats and the nuclear industry.

“These kind of relationships can be seen in other countries but Japan is a standout,” said Muneyuki Shindo, an honorary politics professor at Chiba University.

“Ties between the bureaucracy and industry are still very strong — it’s a legacy of government-led development when the country was underdeveloped” after World War II.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has made bringing nuclear power back online a priority for the resource-poor country — a move backed by the business community but strongly opposed by a wary public.

Among those warning over the restarts is Katsunobu Sakurai, the mayor of Minamisoma, a town that lies in the shadow of the crippled plant. He named one of the world’s 100 most influential people in 2011 by TIME magazine.

Mr Sakurai drew global attention with a YouTube video in which he pleaded for help — and slammed Tokyo’s response — as radiation wafted toward his community………… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6URqs9kb20      http://www.news.com.au/technology/environment/inside-the-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-five-years-after-the-disaster-was-triggered-by-an-earthquake-and-tsunami/news-story/f80b140e5505709a55ab6ee6cc5a9228

March 11, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, politics