Japan Press Weekly

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2012 May 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Tokyoites call for referendum on restart of NPPs

Calling for a municipal ordinance to hold a local referendum on any restart of nuclear power plants, a citizens’ group on May 10 submitted more than 320,000 signatures to the Tokyo governor.

They insist that it should be decided through the vote whether or not the people of Tokyo accept the restart of the operation of idled nuclear reactors located in areas to which Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) supplies power.

When residents make a request to the metropolitan governor to create a local law, they need to collect signatures amounting to at least 1/50 of the total number of eligible voters (214,236 in Tokyo). The number of the signatures presented by the citizens thus satisfies the necessary conditions.

A representative of the group at a press conference said, “The governor and the metropolitan assembly should take the residents’ demand sincerely.”

The assembly is to discuss the ordinance bill in June. According to the authorities, this is the first time that an ordinance to hold a referendum was requested in Tokyo.