Japan Press Weekly

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2013 March 27 - April 2 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Ehime youth forms anti-Ikata NPP group

Young people in Ehime Prefecture where the Ikata nuclear power plant is located on March 25 formed a youth group to oppose the resumption of operations of reactors at the Shikoku Electric Power Company’s plant.

The founders are the young adults and college students who have been involved in a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the restart of the Ikata reactors. They criticize the utility for clinging to the plant reactivation plan and Ehime Governor Nakamura Tokihiro for repeatedly insisting on the need to restart the plant, and are working to help establish a nuclear-free society and promote the use of renewable sources of energy.

The group’s leaders held a press conference in Ehime’s Matsuyama City and announced that they will conduct an action every Wednesday in front of the company’s nuclear-power business headquarters. They are also considering sending some youth to Tokyo to take part in the weekly Friday night protest across from the prime minister’s office.

At the press conference, a member of the brand-new youth group said, “Listening to the radiation-affected sufferers in Fukushima, I have come to think that the plant shutdown is the only option. I want to increase this movement among many young people.”

Another member said, “A gigantic earthquake is said to be expected around our areas. I don’t want to see a similar accident at the Ikata plant like the one that occurred in Fukushima.”