Japan Press Weekly

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2014 April 2 - 8 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

DPJ supports exports of nuclear power plants while proposing zero NPP Japan

While calling for closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan by the end of the 2030s, the Democratic Party of Japan on April 2 in the Diet supported two intergovernmental agreements to export nuclear power plants to Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.

The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee approved the two agreements by the majority vote of the ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties along with the opposition DPJ after only five hours in discussion. The Japanese Communist Party opposed the agreements.

In the discussion prior to the vote, DPJ lawmaker Watanabe Shu expressed his support to the agreements, saying, “I know that if the party sides with Japan’s global sales of nuclear power plants while seeking a zero-NPP-Japan, it may receive criticism from inside and outside Japan. However, I will support the agreements if asked to clarify my position.”

After the meeting when asked by reporters about former Prime Minister Kan Naoto of the DPJ opposing the agreements, Watanabe said, “I hope he will voluntarily leave the party.”