Japan Press Weekly

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2014 July 9 - 15 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]

Anti-nuke protests increase prior to release of safety report on Sendai NPP approaching

While the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) seeks to issue a safety assessment report draft on the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant (Kagoshima Prefecture) on July 16, citizens are intensifying protest movements opposing the restart of the NPP.

The Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy on July 9 held a press conference in Tokyo to release a statement demanding that reactors at the Sendai NPP be kept offline for an indefinite period. The group of 60 experts is working to help create a society without nuclear power.

Regarding the assessment report, the statement points out various problems, including the fact that the NRA failed to take into account the dangers of volcanoes and active faults around the power station and the fact that no assistance for the elderly and inpatients is even considered in their evacuation plans in case of a severe accident at the NPP.

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On the same day, a citizen’s network against the restart of NPPs held a protest action in front of the NRA building in Tokyo. In the rain, around 100 people took part in the action. Matsumoto Seiichi from Kagoshima said, “We have many volcanoes and earthquakes in the Kyushu region. A restart of the Sendai NPP, the most dangerous plant, is totally unacceptable.”

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The Democratic Youth League of Japan on July 8 made a representation to the ministry of economy to call for the total departure from nuclear power based on the results of its interview survey of victims of the 2011 nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP.

A participant from Kagoshima Prefecture said that a questionnaire survey a local antinuke group conducted showed that in Satsumasendai City which hosts the Sendai NPP, a full 80% of residents oppose the reactivation of the plant.