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2016 March 9 - 15 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

Working for Japan free from N-reactors, many rallies held on 5th year of Fukushima disaster

Japan marked the fifth anniversary of the 2011 nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Many rallies opposing nuclear energy took place this weekend not only in Fukushima but also in many other prefectures throughout the country.

On March 12, at an athletic stadium in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture, about 6,000 people participated in an antinuke rally and marched in demonstration.

The organizer said, “Numerous problems still exist in Fukushima so we cannot accept the restarting of plant operations. We want the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daini NPP as well, and call for a review of Japan’s nuclear energy policy.”

The leader of victims fighting in court to seek compensation for the damage caused by the nuclear meltdown said, “Prime Minister Abe says that the Fukushima crisis has been brought under control, but it’s not true. Once a nuclear power facility, which is difficult to control, causes an accident, it will have a disastrous consequence. We, Fukushima residents, have always had to live under such severe conditions.”

In Fukui Prefecture where NPPs, including the Takahama plant, are concentrated, an event calling for a zero-nuclear-energy archipelago was held on March 13. Two reactors at the Takahama NPP are currently under suspension following the recent court order to put a temporary halt to their operations.

At this event held in Obama City, a co-representative of the event organizer said, “Seismic activities in the chain of Japanese islands have become active. Despite that, the central government and power companies are trying to reactivate nuclear reactors and prolong the life of aging reactors. I don’t want to leave serious problems such as the ever-increasing amount of nuclear wastes to our children to have to deal with.”

In Otsu City in Shiga Prefecture, where the Otsu District Court on March 9 issued a temporary injunction banning operations of the Takahama No.3 and No.4 reactors, about 1,500 antinuke activists joined a rally.

The head of the counsel for plaintiffs who won the temporary shutdown of the two reactors said, “Operating reactors were shut down for the first time in history due to the judicial ruling. People’s power striving for a nuclear-free Japan has brought about this result.” The lawyer received a warm round of applause from the participants.

Outside the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo, antinuke demonstrators in the weekly Friday night action held a memorial ceremony. Similar events also took place on March 11 in Yokohama City (Kanagawa), Kofu City (Yamanashi), Nasushiobara City (Tochigi), Mito City (Ibaraki), and Maebashi City (Gunma); on March 12 in Kyoto City (Kyoto), Hiroshima City (Hiroshima), and Nagoya City (Aichi); and on March 13 in Sapporo City (Hokkaido), Wakayama City (Wakayama), and Kitakyushu City (Fukuoka).