Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2011 October 5 - 11 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

LDP member blames Japanese character as remote cause of N-accident

A Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker made remarks shifting the blame for the ongoing nuclear crisis onto Japanese national character on October 5 at a meeting of the House of Representatives Special Committee on recovery from the 3.11 disaster.

LDP representative Nukaga Fukushiro stated, “One of the causes (of the Fukushima nuclear accident) is the Japanese people’s postwar values and indolent way of life. They don’t want to listen to bad news, want to stay away from danger, and want to have an easy life.”

Nukaga’s remark shows no sign of remorse for the successive LDP administrations’ stance deeply relying on the safety myth which greatly contributed to the severe nuclear accident.

Another LDP lawmaker taking the same stance as Nukaga was Nishimura Yasutoshi.

He used his question time to press the Noda government to resume operations of nuclear power plants (NPPs) without delay, by saying, “Fear of power shortages only accelerates corporate moves to relocate their production bases to overseas.”

Regarding the issue of exporting nuclear power plants, Nishimura cited the fact that 496 nuclear reactors are planned to be constructed worldwide and called on the government to aggressively market Japan’s NPP technology to nations planning to build NPPs.

Prime Minister Noda Yoshihiko expressed his intention to restart the operations of suspended NPPs while the investigation of the cause of the accident continues and before establishing an adequate regulatory organ.

Responding to Nishimura’s question about NPP exports, Noda said, “Based on a relationship of trust established with countries which have exchanged agreements with us on nuclear energy generation, we will continue to cooperate with them.”