March 9 and 12, 2019

A recent opinion poll by the Jiji Press news agency found that 75% of the respondents said that the progress so far made in the reconstruction efforts associated with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdowns is “insufficient”.

In the same survey, which was conducted last month, asked whether the government should continue with its policy of promoting exports of nuclear power generation technologies to other countries, 73% of the respondents said “No”, while only 15% said “Yes”.

Meanwhile, Japanese Communist Party Policy Commission Chair Kasai Akira on March 8 at a press conference in the Diet building pointed out that the Fukushima nuclear disaster has yet to be brought under control and that more than 40,000 Fukushima evacuees are still living in shelters. He urged the ruling parties to accept the opposition parties’ request to start parliamentary deliberation on a “Zero-nuclear power” bill. The bill was submitted to the Diet jointly by the JCP and three other opposition parties on March 9 last year, but it has been shelved since then.

Kasai also said that although the Abe government has attempted to boost overseas sales of Japan’s nuclear power technologies as a key measure of its economic growth strategy, no export project has emerged to prove the government strategy successful. He stressed, “It is unforgiveable for the government to push forward with the reactivation of offline nuclear reactors in Japan by spreading the false idea that nuclear power is a low-cost energy source.”

Kasai expressed his determination to work to enact the zero-nuclear power bill and accelerate the shift to renewable energy sources.

Past related articles:
> 4 opposition parties submit bill to withdraw from nuclear power generation [March 10, 2018]
> JCP promises cooperation for civil group-drafted bill to abolish NPPs [January 16, 2018]