Japan Press Weekly

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2012 August 22 - 28 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Anti-nuclear activists meet PM to demand end to nuclear power

Organizers of weekly anti-nuclear protests on August 22 met with Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko and demanded a swift exit from nuclear power generation.

At the meeting in the prime minister’s office, which was finally realized after the organizers’ repeated requests, Noda reiterated his stance “to reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy over the medium to long term.” Members of the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes (MCAN) responded by saying that they cannot accept that vague promise.

At a press conference held after the meeting, the protesters made clear that they will continue to hold their Friday night protests in front of the prime minister’s office, which started in late March.

The number of participants in the protest has increased to more than 100,000 since June when the prime minister announced the restart of operations of two reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.

MCAN representatives submitted to the prime minister statements in which they demand that the government: cancel the reactivation of the Oi reactors; give up restarting all other reactors: change the nation’s nuclear energy policy and decommission all nuclear reactors; and retract a candidate lineup for the nuclear regulatory commission.

Misao Redwolf criticized the present energy policy as being based on corporate profitability and urged Noda to create a policy to protect citizens’ lives.

Hirano Taichi pointed out that the amount of electricity generated is sufficient without operating nuclear reactors and said, “We can manage this country without depending on nuclear power generation.”

“We will never give up the fight. We will never stop our protests unless the government will clearly announce an end to nuclear power with a simple and clear statement even children can understand,” said other protester.