Japanese town approves restarting nuclear plant
Print Edition
A TOWN in southwest Japan became the first to approve restarting a nuclear power station yesterday, a step forward in the country’s fraught process of reviving an industry left idle by the Fukushima catastrophe in 2011.
Satsumasendai, a town of 100,000 that hosts the two-reactor Kyushu Electric Power Co plant, is 1,000 kilometers southwest of Tokyo and has long relied on the Sendai plant for subsidies and jobs.
Nineteen of the city’s 26 assembly members voted in favour of restarting the plant while four members voted against and three abstained, a city assembly member said.
The restart of Japan’s first reactors to receive clearance under new rules imposed since Fukushima is unlikely until next year as Kyushu Electric still needs to pass safety checks.
All 48 of the country’s nuclear reactors were gradually taken offline following Fukushima, the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.
An earthquake and tsunami struck the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee from nearby towns and contaminating water, food and air.
Japan has been forced to import fossil fuels to replace atomic power, which previously supplied around 30 percent of the country’s electricity.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government is pushing to restart nuclear reactors but he has said he will defer to local authorities to approve the policy.
The restart divided communities nearest to the plant, pitting the host township that gets direct benefits from siting reactors against other communities that do not reap the benefits but say they will be equally exposed to radioactive releases in the event of a disaster.
In Ichikikushikino, less than 5 kilometers from the Sendai plant, more than half the 30,000 residents this year signed a petition opposing the restart.
In the lead-up to the local vote, officials went to neighboring towns to explain the restart. Some residents complained that the public meetings did not address safety concerns.
A fire broke out at Kyushu Electric’s other nuclear plant yesterday, Kyodo News reported. The fire started in an auxiliary building of the idled nuclear station and was extinguished by workers. There were no injuries and no release of radioactive materials, it said.
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