Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 May 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Local assembly OKs restart of Oi nuclear reactors

The Oi Town Assembly in Fukui Prefecture on May 14 approved the restart of reactors 3 and 4 at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant by majority vote of its members, with the sole objection by a Japanese Communist Party representative, and reported the decision to Town Mayor Tokioka Shinobu.

While acknowledging that many town residents are worried about the safety of the NPP, most assembly members voted yes because of the difficult employment situation in the town.

JCP Saruhashi Takumi, the only assembly member who voted against the approval, pointed out that the investigation of the 3.11 Fukushima nuclear accident has not finished yet, safety measures and an emergency evacuation plan of the Oi NPP are insufficient, and a national regulatory agency for nuclear energy is yet to be established. “In case of a nuclear accident, towns surrounding Oi will also suffer from the damage,” Saruhashi stressed.