Subject: [cwj 154] Japan to try to win public over to MOX nuclear power plans
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Tue, 29 May 2001 15:15:23 -0700
Seq: 154
Japan to try to win public over to MOX nuclear power plans TOKYO, May 28 (AFP) - The Japanese government and the world's largest private power company vowed Monday to try to persuade the public of the need for nuclear power despite voters' weekend rejection of a plan to use recycled nuclear fuel. "(The plebiscite's) result came out as residents considered the necessity and safety of nuclear power plants," Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday during a budget committee session of the lower house of parliament. "Both the state and the operators need to make further efforts in seeking the public's understanding on nuclear energy." The prime minister's comments came after residents of the tiny northern Japanese village of Kariwamura rejected Tokyo Electric Power Co.'splan to convert an existing nuclear reactor to a pluthermal (plutonium thermal) plant on Sunday. Pluthermal facilities are power plants that use plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel in light-water reactors. Of the 3,605 votes cast in Kariwamura, 300 kilometers (186 miles) northwest of Tokyo, 1,925, or 53.6 percent, rejected the use of MOX fuel at TEPCO's nearby Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. Japanese newspapers said the vote dealt a severe blow to the government's plan to promote the method of power generation as an answer to the needs of the resource-poor nation, which relies on 51 nuclear reactors to provide about one-third of its electricity. Although the plebiscite is not legally binding, a spokesman for (TEPCO), Takashi Kurita, said the company would not continue with its plan to introduce MOX fuel against local residents' wishes. But TEPCO would keep trying to win them round, he said. "The decision (to accept such a plan) is up to the local community. But we will continue to seek understanding about the necessity of pluthermal facilities," he said. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda gave no hint that the government would be swayed from its nuclear power plans. "Perhaps the government needed to explain more about the plan, although it had taken considerable pains to do so," he told a regular press conference. "(Plans for new pluthermal plants) are a very important part of Japan's energy policy. Considering the future energy needs, I feel we must seek better understanding not just from the residents (in Kariwamura), but also the entire Japanese public," Fukuda said. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________