Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 3 - 9 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Abandon plans to restart nuclear reactors: Fukushima residents

Citizens’ groups in Fukushima Prefecture on July 3 made representations to the state that it should give up its plans to restart nuclear reactors and make a total departure from nuclear power policies.

The national government is planning to reactivate offline nuclear reactors by making use of the National Regulation Authority’s new safety standards to be implemented on July 8.

Hayakawa Atsuo, a civil group’s representative, urged a senior vice minister of the Economy Ministry to cancel the plan to restart nuclear reactors, saying, “The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has yet to be brought under control, and the plant remains in critical condition. Such a disaster should never be allowed to be repeated.”

Ito Tatsuya, a leader of another civic group, pointed out that the new standards, which grant plant operators a grace period for equipping their reactor facilities with filter vents and allow them to extend reactors’ operational period up to 60 years, fail to meet the even safety criteria set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In regard to the issue that radioactively contaminated groundwater is suspected to be leaking into the sea near the Fukushima power station, those petitioners made a request to the NRA to conduct a thorough investigation and implement immediate measures to stop the leakage. Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Trade Unions Chair Saito Yoshiharu said, “How can you give a green light to the restart of plants while so many problems involving the Fukushima disaster are still unsolved?”