Japan Press Weekly

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2011 July 6 - 12 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Gov’t safety declaration on N-power plant discredited: Shii

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on July 7 at a news conference said that the government should admit its declaration that Japan’s nuclear power plants have fulfilled safety requirements in preparation for resumption of their operations was premature.

While requesting municipalities hosting nuclear power plants to approve resumption of operations of suspended nuclear reactors, the government announced that it will conduct a “stress test” on nuclear power facilities across the country and, based on test results, will establish a new rule for restarting operations of these reactors.

Shii pointed out that for the government, carrying out the “stress test” is the same as admitting that its safety declaration on nuclear power plants was wrong.

Criticizing the government for putting the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in charge of the test, Shii said, “The credibility of the test conducted by these two agencies is questionable because the Fukushima accident proved that they are not qualified to play a regulatory role in nuclear power generation.”

Shii also said, “If the government intends to test safety compliance of nuclear power plants, it should utilize the wisdom and capability of experts who are independent and free from the constraints of the ‘nuclear safety myth.’”

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At the news conference, Shii called on the government to fully investigate the matter in which Kyushu Electric Power Co. (Kyuden) instructed its related companies to send pro-nuclear e-mail messages to a local TV program held by the government about the resumption of operations of nuclear reactors at Kyuden’s Genkai nuclear power plant.

Shii said, “The government sponsored the program. It is the government’s responsibility to find out the truth about Kyuden’s manipulations.”