ENVIRONMENT-JAPAN: Nuclear Policy at a Crossroads – Activists

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Jun 5 2002 (IPS) - Japan’s ambitious nuclear power policy has entered a critical stage this year as proponents battle an increasingly antagonistic public, a situation that activists hope would lead to the final countdown on the industry.

“Japan’s nuclear power policy is at crossroads today,” says Ban Hideki, spokesman for the Citizens Nuclear Information Centre, a leading organisation fighting against the expansion of Japan’s nuclear power programme.

“It’s time the government acknowledge it’s a losing fight,” he adds.

Indeed, today’s grassroots opposition to nuclear energy has never been more vigorous since Japan decided to boost its expensive nuclear power development programme in the eighties.

Surveys conducted by the Prime Minister’s Office indicate increasing fear among the public of the dangers from nuclear plants. More than 90 percent of those polled in 1999, up from 80 percent in 1986, had serious concerns about health risks posed by nuclear power plants.

Shuichi Yanagimachi, spokesman for Citizens Concerned about Nuclear Power Plants, says this fear is now being transformed into public action against the setting up of new plants.

Yanagimachi points to some recent successes. Last May, two-thirds of the population of Kashiwamachi, Niigata, northern Japan, voted no to a government bid to build a plutonium recycling plant in the village.

“What is significant about that referendum, one of several across the country that ousted nuclear power sites, was that one-third of the 4090 people living in the village was dependent in various way on the upcoming site, ” says Yanagimachi.

Activists point out that a series of serious accidents at nuclear power plants during the last few years has shattered the official myth promoting Japan’s nuclear safety record.

The latest incident involved the shutting down last month by Chubu Electric Power Co, a major nuclear power firm of its number 2 reactor in its power station in Shizuoka, central Japan, after the discovery of a radioactive water leak.

The leak occurred 24 hours after the company reached “understanding” with local residents who had in April filed a temporary injunction to force the suspension of operations of four reactors at the nuclear power plant.

Hiroyuki Kawai, lawyer for the group, says the accident has fuelled public distrust as the move comes after two accidents last November involving one of the reactors operated by Chubu.

Despite assurances from Chubu, there has been growing concern of a possible nuclear accident should a massive earthquake occur, he adds.

Shizuoka has been described by scientists as one of the more earthquake vulnerable spots in Japan.

Yet another landmark for activists was the March shutdown of Fugen, a 165,0000 kilowatt advanced thermal reactor in western Japan, due to a leakage of radioactive steam.

The decision was particularly embarrassing as the accident followed close on the heels of the release of a new white paper on nuclear safety that reported that the safety record has in fact improved.

Activists say another leak was detected at Fugen last month, this time involving a tritium leak outside of the reactor container and the concrete wall surrounding the facility.

In addition to these accidents, the government is currently mired in a political scandal as calls mount for the resignation of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda. The calls for his resignation stem from remarks he allegedly made that Japan should posses nuclear arms.

The comments by Fukuda, who claims he was misquoted, follow similar remarks by another senior politician, Ichiro Ozawa, who said last month that Japan has enough plutonium in its power plants to produce thousands of nuclear warheads.

Despite this controversy and growing public opposition, government’s nuclear policy remains firm.

Officials are hitting back with new arguments highlighting the use of nuclear power to reduce global warming, backed by a stronger commitment to ensure safety.

Shinichi Kawarada, General Affairs Director of the Nuclear Safety Commission, reports the government has stepped up safety measures such as mobilising police guards around nuclear power facilities, to protect from possible attacks following the Sep. 11 terror attacks in the United States.

The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) also defends national policy by pointing out that resource-poor Japan must have 52 commercial plants by the year 2010 lest it face a hike in electricity rates by 7 percent by 2025, as well as a sizable loss in GDP.

But Kazue Suzuki, in charge of nuclear power at Greenpeace Japan, disputes these arguments. She says renewable energy resources are in fact an efficient source of cheaper and safer energy to the public.

“Five years ago people may have bought the official policy that nuclear energy was important for providing electricity, but not today,” she says.

Suzuki points to the growing increase of individuals selling solar and wind power to utility companies, citing Tokyo Electric Company’s transactions of almost 20,000 in 2000, compared with only 136 in 1995.

Meanwhile Yanagimachi is working hard to provide more information to help the public examine the safety of nuclear power.

“The interest is growing by the day,” he explains, pointing to his busy schedule of workshops, lectures and seminars. “We are very afraid of an energy that is yet to be scientifically proven as safe for people.”