Thousands in Tokyo Protest Restarting Nuclear Power Plants

Forum Contacts RSS		RUSSIAN

RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED June 02, 2013

Some 60,000 people gathered for a ‘Goodbye to Nuclear Power Plants’ rally in downtown Tokyo on Sunday in a display of public anger at the government’s decision to restart nuclear power plants.

The rally in the Shiba Park was attended by Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, who urged Japan's government to halt plans to restart nuclear power plants in the country citing safety concerns.

The Japanese government has announced that it could allow idled nuclear plants to resume operation if their safety is confirmed by the new safety guidelines to be adopted in July.

Participants have so far collected over 8 million signatures against the government’s plans. A similar rally in Japan gathered some 170,000 participants last July.

Japan shut down all of its nuclear power generation facilities following the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. Of Japan's 50 reactors, only two have resumed operation so far.

In March 2011, Japan was hit by a massive 9.0-magnitude quake which caused a tsunami, claiming over 15,000 lives and triggering a number of explosions at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant.

The tsunami caused a partial meltdown at three of the nuclear plant’s reactors. Radiation leaked into the atmosphere, soil and seawater, making the accident the world's worst nuclear disaster after Chernobyl in the USSR in 1986.

Japan will need at least 40 years to recover fully from the nuclear catastrophe, scientists say.

Topics: Decommissioning, Asia, Japan

Other news:

China Offers Russia Floating Nuke Plant Joint Project

It was proposed that a joint venture should be established with investments from both sides.

Russia Eyes Nuclear Power Project in Finland – Source

A government source told RIA Novosti.

The transaction on consolidation of a 100% stake in Uranium One Inc. by ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. has received court approval and regulatory approval

The transaction on consolidation of a 100% stake in Uranium One Inc. by ARMZ Uranium Holding Co. has been approved both by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Canada, and regulators in Russia, Australia and the USA.

Hero of the day

Jacques Repussard: knowledge, independence, proximity

They told me: "Mr Repussard, we're not used to responding to anti-nuclear organisations". To which I replied: "We will not reveal any state or trade secrets, but we will not leave them without any answer".

INTERVIEW

Georgy Toshinsky
Not quite so. The authors of the concept, which was difficult to be realized in practice, turned to a clearer concept of a standing wave reactor (TP-1) that in principle allows finding the solution to the tasks stated for TWRs.

OPINION

Alexander Yakovenko
The preparatory committee for the 2015 NPT review conference took place in Geneva on April 22-May 3. Russia views strengthening the NPT regime as a crucial task and considers it a foreign policy priority.