March 29, 2013

Tohoku Electric Power Company announced on March 28 that it will cancel the planned construction of a nuclear power plant. This is the first time Japan’s electric utility gave up building a new nuclear plant after the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station.

The power company unveiled in 1968 its plan to construct the nuclear facility in Namie Town and the Odaka District of Minamisoma City in Fukushima Prefecture. The project, however, met strong opposition from local people and has been blocked.

After the Fukushima nuclear accident, both assemblies of Namie Town and Minamisoma City adopted resolutions opposing the project, and the leaders of the two municipalities also expressed their intention not to approve the construction.

Japanese Communist Party Namie Town assembly member Baba Isao said, “It is only natural for the utility to scrap the construction plan, given that all the townspeople are still evacuated from their hometown. The company should have abandoned the project immediately after those local assemblies adopted the resolutions.”

The assemblyman also noted that local residents have been divided for a long time over the planned construction, but it is no longer possible for the utility and the administrative authorities to promote nuclear power generation without listening to the opinions of the local population.