Japan Press Weekly

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2014 April 2 - 8 TOP3 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Gov’t intends to revive ‘safety myth’ of nuclear power: Shii

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo criticized at a news conference on April 5 a draft of the energy plan which ruling parties approved, saying, “They are trying to revive the myth of nuclear power plants’ safety.”

The ruling coalition of the Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on April 3 agreed on the draft of the government’s energy program which they are to propose to a Cabinet meeting next week.

The draft plan designates nuclear power as an “important base-load power source” because of its “low cost” and “stability”. It also declares the “promotion” of the nuclear fuel cycle.

Regarding the introduction of renewable energy, the draft only cites in its footnotes for reference a target share of “20% of electricity output from renewables as of 2030”, which was set in 2010 by the administration of the Democratic Party.

Shii pointed out that the governing coalition is aiming to continue with nuclear power generation in defiance of public opinion. He also referred to the fact that in the process of drawing up the draft program, they deleted from the original draft the phrase “seriously reflecting on the ‘safety myth’ of nuclear power stations”.

The JCP chair noted that the safety myth led to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. “It is unacceptable for the government to bring this myth to life again as if no severe accident had ever occurred,” he stressed.

Past related article:
> Shii makes statement on 3rd anniversary of March 11 disaster [March 11, 2014]