Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Dietmembers petition to end dependence on nuclear energy

Delegates of a cross-party Dietmembers’ group, which seeks to create a Japan without nuclear power plants, on May 8 submitted to a senior vice industry minister a petition urging the government to halt its dependence on nuclear power generation.

The petition was made in response to a scenario discussed in an industry ministry panel review of the national energy policy, projecting that by 2030, Japan’s dependency rate on nuclear energy will be between 20% and 30%.

Pointing out that the panel assumed that advances led by energy saving efforts and utilization of renewal energy resources will be low, the petition criticized the panel’s discussion based on such an evaluation for misleading the public and as being harmful to the public good.

Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Kasai Akira, who joined the delegation, said, “At present, all nuclear power plants have stopped their operations and many people oppose the restart of idled nuclear reactors. The nation’s energy policy should be revised drastically by taking into full account the sufferings and long-term damage caused by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.”

Senior Vice Industry Minister Makino Seishu responded by saying, “I’ll convey your opinion to the minister.”

The group includes lawmakers from the ruling Democratic, the Liberal Democratic, Komei, Social Democratic, and Your parties, along with the JCP.