Japan Press Weekly

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2024 October 30 - November 5 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP EC Chair Tamura: resumption of Onagawa No.2 reactor disregards local residents’ safety

Japanese Communist Party Executive Committee Chair Tamura Tomoko on October 30 criticized Tohoku Electric Power Company (Tohoku-epco) on its decision to restart operations of the No. 2 reactor at its Onagawa nuclear power plant for disregarding the harm to the livelihoods and safety of local residents in the event of an emergency.

Asked about the resumption of the nuclear reactor in question, Tamura at a press conference said, “The Onagawa NPP was damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake. It could have resulted in a serious accident similar to the one at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.”

After the 2011 great earthquake, Tohoku-epco spent over 700 billion yen on safety measures in order to reactivate the reactor. However, Tamura pointed out, “No matter how much is spent, there is definitely no such thing as a safe nuclear power plant, especially in the quake- and tsunami-prone country of Japan.”

Noting that the Onagawa NPP is located in the middle of the Oshika Peninsula, she stated, “The power company should not restart the nuclear reactor on the peninsula which could be isolated in the event of a disaster. What the utility should do is promote the use of renewables and help achieve a non-nuclear-powered Japan.”