December 31, 2022

Member corporations of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP)-related incorporated association made a total of 638 million yen in donations to the Liberal Democratic Party's political fund management organization in 2021, reported by Akahata on December 31.

The "Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc." consists of 392 members, including power utilities, NPP-related companies and research institutions, and NPP-hosting municipalities.

According to the LDP's political fund managing body "People’s Political Association", it received 40 million yen in donations from Hitachi, Ltd. which is already working on the development of an advanced light-water reactor; 33 million yen from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. which announced to develop an advanced light-water reactor jointly with four major electric power companies; 27 million yen and 7.5 million yen, respectively, from Nippon Steel Corporation and JFE Steel which supply steel for the construction of NPPs; 28 million yen each from Mitsui & Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Corporation, and Marubeni Corporation which procure nuclear fuel; 20 million yen from Mizuho Bank whose senior official is a member of the advanced light-water reactor working group, a subcommittee of the advisory panel to the METI; and 18 million yen each from Kajima Corporation, Obayashi Gumi, and Shimizu Corporation, general contractors which construct NPPs.

The Kishida government, by reversing the policy of "reducing the country's dependence on nuclear power generation if possible", made the shift to the promotion of nuclear energy. There is no doubt that NPP-related firms provided political donations to the LDP for policy-buying purposes, showing a deep-rooted collusion between the LDP and the NPP community.