Japan Press Weekly

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2012 July 11 - 17 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Religious figures call for future free of atomic energy

Regardless of differences in faiths, 51 religious figures on July 13 jointly published a statement calling for an end to nuclear power generation.

Initiators of this statement, including the former president of the Japan Buddhist Federation (JBF) and a reverend of the Anglican Episcopal Church in Japan, met in Kyoto City to seek broader support to the statement from other religious leaders.

Kono Taitsu, the former JBF president and now the chief priest of the Myoshinn-ji branch of the Rinzai Zen Denomination, said, “As a religious leader who speaks to the value of life, I came to feel obliged to say something” about the nuclear energy issue.

The statement asserts that the Fukushima accident has proven that all beings and creatures cannot coexist with atomic energy, and points out that as nuclear power plants “inevitably accumulate radioactive wastes, they will endanger ‘all living things’ and pass on a negative legacy to future generations.”

The statement requests that the government and nuclear establishment complete the earliest possible decontamination, provide long-term healthcare for victims, and sincerely fulfill compensation obligations.

Regarding the resumption of operations and export of nuclear power plants with the cause of the Fukushima accident sill remaining unknown, the statement criticizes these moves as “giving preference on ‘making money’ over safeguarding ‘lives’.”