Criticism Hits Japan's Plan
to Restart Nuclear Reactors
Fukushima Nuclear Crisis
Magnetic Field Detector
TOKYO:
Japan's plan to restart two offline nuclear reactors came
under fire on Sunday from media and environmental groups
amid doubts over the safety of atomic power after the
Fukushima accident.
"It is
hard to understand why the government is in such a haste to
restart the reactors," the major daily Mainichi Shimbun said
in an editorial, adding that more thorough checks were
needed to ensure safety.
The
government of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced on
Friday that it was safe and necessary to restart the
reactors at the Oi
nuclear power plant in western Japan, which could help
prevent power shortages in the summer months.
Only
one of Japan's 54 reactors -- in northernmost Hokkaido -- is
in operation at present, but it is scheduled to be shut down
for maintenance work in May.
Restarting the two Oi reactors will mean the country is not
entirely without nuclear power, which can be generated more
cheaply than at fuel-burning power plants.
"Independent studies show that there will be no power
shortages," said Wakao Hanaoka, the Japan campaign manager
for the environment watchdog Greenpeace.
The
activist said Premier Noda and the Oi plant's operator
Kansai Electric Power Co. are "recklessly rushing to bring
the reactors back online now, saying they meet its lax
safety requirements".
A
massive earthquake and tsunami in March last year caused
reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. None of
reactors shut for regular checks before the disaster have
resumed operation amid safety concerns.
"The
nuclear industry and the government were totally unprepared
for the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi and now they are
trying to pretend they can call Oi safe without improving
safety or emergency measures," Hanaoka said.
The
government set criteria nine days ago for restarting nuclear
reactors included measures to prevent a nuclear accident
even if reactors are hit by natural disasters as severe as
those that ravaged the Fukushima plant.
The
government still needs to gain approval from regional
authorities around the Oi plant for the reactors to be
restarted amid persistent public distrust over the safety of
nuclear power.
Yukio
Edano, the minister of industry, on Saturday called on the
governor of Fukui, where the Oi plant is located. The
governor, Issei Nishikawa, did not give an immediate
response to his request for approval of the plan.
"It is
uncertain if the plan will ever gain an understanding of
communities which have raised objections to the resumption
of the reactors," the Asahi Shimbun reported Sunday.
The
influential daily criticised the Noda administration Sunday
for being "inconsistent" over its nuclear power policy.
Before
Noda took office last September, he promised to follow his
predecessor Naoto Kan in ridding Japan of nuclear power,
Asahi said.
But he
backtracked last January when he said in a policy speech
that the resources-poor country would reduce its dependence
on nuclear power "as much as possible on a medium- and
long-term basis".
Striking a more positive tone, the conservative daily Sankei
Shimbun called on Noda to visit Fukui himself and "speak
clearly in his own words about his government's energy
policy and why it is necessary to restart reactors".
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