Japan Press Weekly

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2013 January 30 - February 5 [EDUCATION]

Power company promotes nuclear power ‘safety myth’ in school

Japan’s utility operating nuclear power plants gave a “lesson” on nuclear power safety to public high school students, revealed Akahata on February 3.

The high school attached to Kanazawa National University on December 18, shortly after the general election, invited a “teacher” from Hokuriku Electric Power Co. and conducted the “class” for its students in the auditorium. The company runs the Shika Nuclear Power Plant in Ishikawa’s Shika Town.

The high school representative said to the Akahata reporter, “Based on an Education Ministry policy to spread the knowledge about radiation among students, we organized the class in response to the power company’s offer. Our students have been given the lesson by the company every year.”

In the class, the lecturer dispatched from the utility took the rostrum. The lecture was filled with explanations stressing the safety of nuclear plants as well as underestimating the risk of radioactive contamination.

According to the students who attended the class, the lecturer told them that natural radioactivity is far more intense than that from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant and that any food is safe to eat even after the nuclear accident, while emphasizing the necessity of atomic energy.

The instructor also criticized the evacuees from areas around the Fukushima plant, saying, “People of Fukushima, particularly the elderly should have remained in Fukushima. They wrecked their health due to stress as they moved to other places.”

Regarding the use of natural energy, the lecturer said, “Solar power panels equivalent to Kanazawa City in size are still insufficient to cover the electricity output from one nuclear reactor.” He stressed that the widespread use of renewable energy is “infeasible”.

One of those students said to Akahata, “I got angry when the lecturer referred to the severe accidents in Fukushima and Chernobyl as nothing serious. To think of some students who would accept the story without question, I feel bad.” Another student’s parent said, “My child, who is usually quiet, had crumpled up the handouts. The lecture must have been upsetting for him.”