Regrettable ‘go’ on reactors
(From The Japan Times June 17 issue)

The government June 16 finally gave the go-ahead to Kansai Electric Power Co.’s plan to restart the Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at its Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. The decision ignores the crucial lesson from the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant: Building and operating nuclear power plants in this quake-prone country, which could cause a catastrophe with irreparable damage, is untenable as a policy.

Regrettably, the government made the decision even without presenting a concrete road map to eventually make Japan free from nuclear power. The decision this time will dampen people’s efforts to save power.

It is deplorable that although the government and Kepco were aware for a long time of the possibility that the areas serviced by Kepco will face power shortages this coming summer, they did not make preparations in advance to overcome the expected shortages without relying on nuclear power. It is not far-fetched to say that while not making such preparations, the government and Kepco roused fears about power shortages, and used it as an excuse to restart the Oi reactors.

It is not unreasonable to suspect that the government and the power industry are aiming to use the Oi restart as the first step to carry out a full-scale restart of all the reactors that are offline without making a concrete plan to abolish nuclear power generation in Japan.

Clearly the safety measures taken for the Oi plant are inadequate. It will take three years for Kepco to install filters to remove radioactive substances in case such substances have to be vented from reactor cores during an emergency. In addition, neither the government nor Kepco has worked out a concrete plan to evacuate people in case a severe accident occurs at the Oi plant.

On June 8, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said even if a quake and a tsunami as strong as those that hit Fukushima No. 1 occurred, an accident can be prevented and that it is ensured that even the loss of all power sources will not lead to damage to a reactor core.

How many people will believe his assurance?

日本語の抄訳はウィークリ6月30日号のP18に掲載されています。