Skip to main content
Prime Minister
Yoshihiko Noda on Friday renewed his call for the re-firing of idle
nuclear reactors, saying Japan could not do without atomic energy, but
stopped short of ordering a restart. Noda called on local authorities to
allow operations to resume at the Oi nuclear plant in western Japan and
pledged safety would remain a priority. "Units number 3 and 4 should restart to support people's lives, that's my decision," Noda told a news conference."Therefore I want to seek the understanding of local governments.""Nuclear generation is an important power source (and) energy security is one of thentry's most cou
important issues." Japan's political classes have been tip-toeing around
the unpopular issue of reactor restarts for months, wary of public
distrust of the technology since the meltdowns at Fukushima in the
aftermath of last year's tsunami. The government's own rules say
reactors must pass internationally-approved stress tests designed to
demonstrate they could withstand a natural disaster, and then get
assent from their host communities. The reactors at Oi are so far the
only ones that are anywhere near gaining the necessary approval, but
the process has become a kind of Mexican stand-off in which neither
local politicians nor the central government in Tokyo has been willing
to make the first move. But increasingly alarmist warnings of summer
power blackouts, with some estimates suggesting certain areas could see
electricity supply fall as much as 20 percent short of demand, have
added urgency to the issue. Noda said nuclear power would continue to
play a long term role in Japan, which has virtually no natural
resources and is increasingly dependent on Middle East oil."The
question is not only the short-term power supply in the summer. If
electricity fees go up due to an increasing dependence on fossil fuel,
it would affect people like retailers, small- and mid-size companies
and general households which are barely making ends meet," he said.
"If that leads to a hollowing out of
business, it would decrease employment opportunities. The temporary
operation of the reactors in summer would not secure our way of life".
"I promise, again, to secure the safety of nuclear power and continue making uninterrupted efforts to improve it."
Noda's remarks came ahead of a
decision due some time next week from the governor of Fukui prefecture,
where the reactors are situated, who is expected to give the go ahead
for their restart
Comments