Nuclear power safety has become a key issue in gubernatorial elections scheduled for April, with incumbents seeking stricter safety standards for nuclear plants and opponents demanding the scrapping of reactor projects.
The ongoing crisis at the hobbled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture has prompted candidates to take shots at the pro-nuclear power stances of the incumbents in Hokkaido, Fukui, Shimane and Saga prefectures, which are home to nuclear power plants.
The governors have not changed their stands but have somewhat toned down their arguments. They are focusing more on ensuring that the nuclear power plants can withstand natural disasters like the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that devastated wide areas of northeastern Japan.
Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa, who is seeking a third term, quickly took action as the crisis unfolded at the Fukushima plant.
Six days after the earthquake, Nishikawa visited the industry ministry, which is in charge of mapping out Japan's nuclear power policy, and demanded a review of the screening process on whether nuclear facilities can withstand a huge earthquake.
Fukui Prefecture is home to 15 nuclear reactors, the most in the country.
When he was elected for the first time eight years ago, Nishikawa, with the support of an electric power company, clashed head-on with a candidate who advocated a break from the reliance on nuclear power.
"Fukui Prefecture is contributing the most of any prefecture to the country's energy policy," Nishikawa, a former central government bureaucrat, told voters Thursday, when campaigns for the first round of the unified local elections in April kicked off.
"I would like the central government and the utility company to be responsible (for the safety of nuclear power plants) in light of the current accident."
In the past two elections, Nishikawa pledged to continue to host 15 reactors. That promise has not been included in the current campaign.
A project to build two more reactors is under way in Fukui Prefecture.
But the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's safety screening process for new reactors has been prolonged since stricter standards were set after the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-oki Earthquake.
If tighter safety guidelines are introduced in light of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake, the reactor projects could be further delayed.
Yasushi Furukawa, the incumbent seeking a third term in Saga Prefecture, said his stand on nuclear power has not changed.
"After the Fukushima accident occurred, a chorus for abandoning nuclear power plants has grown," he told a rally Thursday. "But it is not a realistic choice to immediately halt nuclear power generation."
He said Japan's dependence on nuclear power is high--around 30 percent of all electricity produced in Japan--and that cutting nuclear power would cause an energy shortfall.
But in a manifesto announced Tuesday, he promised to take all possible measures to prevent a nuclear accident in Saga Prefecture, putting the issue at the top of his pledges. The manifesto was postponed from the scheduled March 13 release.
Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi on Wednesday explained her plans to re-examine preparations for a possible nuclear accident in a meeting with four mayors of communities where the Tomari nuclear power plant is located.
In a campaign speech Thursday in Shimane Prefecture, incumbent Zenbe Mizoguchi urged the central government to drastically review its policies concerning nuclear power and energy.
Utilities are paying great attention to the words of the candidates in their campaigns.
"What incumbents are saying and doing in election campaigns after the nuclear crisis unfolded is of central concern for each power company," said a source in the energy industry.
Stricter safety standards, which voters will likely call for, could put new reactor construction projects on hold or lead to the decommissioning of older reactors, causing major headaches for their operators.
Contenders on the Japanese Communist Party's ticket are confronting the pro-nuclear incumbents in the four prefectures, criticizing their previous words touting the safety of nuclear power.
In the Saga race, JCP candidate Masakatsu Hirabayashi blasted Furukawa for stressing "the safety" of the Genkai nuclear power plant in the prefecture even after the extent of the Fukushima plant crisis emerged.
"What is the basis for his affirming the safety of Genkai, although he acknowledged that Fukushima is in danger?" Hirabayashi said.
He called for a mothballing of the No. 1 reactor of the Genkai plant, which is more than 35 years old, and a suspension of the use of a uranium-plutonium mixture, which is considered more dangerous than uranium, as fuel for the No. 3 reactor.
In a speech in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, JCP leader Kazuo Shii said his party will make Japan's nuclear power policy an issue in the unified gubernatorial and local elections.
"Projects to build 14 new reactors should be scrapped," he said. "We also strongly urge the cancellation of the use of the uranium-plutonium mixture as fuel at some reactors and the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor."
Japan has 54 commercial reactors. Three more reactors are already under construction, and projects to build 11 others have been planned.
The first round of the unified local elections will be held April 10. A total of 39 candidates have entered the races in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo.
The ongoing crisis at the hobbled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture has prompted candidates to take shots at the pro-nuclear power stances of the incumbents in Hokkaido, Fukui, Shimane and Saga prefectures, which are home to nuclear power plants.
The governors have not changed their stands but have somewhat toned down their arguments. They are focusing more on ensuring that the nuclear power plants can withstand natural disasters like the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that devastated wide areas of northeastern Japan.
Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa, who is seeking a third term, quickly took action as the crisis unfolded at the Fukushima plant.
Six days after the earthquake, Nishikawa visited the industry ministry, which is in charge of mapping out Japan's nuclear power policy, and demanded a review of the screening process on whether nuclear facilities can withstand a huge earthquake.
Fukui Prefecture is home to 15 nuclear reactors, the most in the country.
When he was elected for the first time eight years ago, Nishikawa, with the support of an electric power company, clashed head-on with a candidate who advocated a break from the reliance on nuclear power.
"Fukui Prefecture is contributing the most of any prefecture to the country's energy policy," Nishikawa, a former central government bureaucrat, told voters Thursday, when campaigns for the first round of the unified local elections in April kicked off.
"I would like the central government and the utility company to be responsible (for the safety of nuclear power plants) in light of the current accident."
In the past two elections, Nishikawa pledged to continue to host 15 reactors. That promise has not been included in the current campaign.
A project to build two more reactors is under way in Fukui Prefecture.
But the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's safety screening process for new reactors has been prolonged since stricter standards were set after the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-oki Earthquake.
If tighter safety guidelines are introduced in light of the magnitude-9.0 earthquake, the reactor projects could be further delayed.
Yasushi Furukawa, the incumbent seeking a third term in Saga Prefecture, said his stand on nuclear power has not changed.
"After the Fukushima accident occurred, a chorus for abandoning nuclear power plants has grown," he told a rally Thursday. "But it is not a realistic choice to immediately halt nuclear power generation."
He said Japan's dependence on nuclear power is high--around 30 percent of all electricity produced in Japan--and that cutting nuclear power would cause an energy shortfall.
But in a manifesto announced Tuesday, he promised to take all possible measures to prevent a nuclear accident in Saga Prefecture, putting the issue at the top of his pledges. The manifesto was postponed from the scheduled March 13 release.
Hokkaido Governor Harumi Takahashi on Wednesday explained her plans to re-examine preparations for a possible nuclear accident in a meeting with four mayors of communities where the Tomari nuclear power plant is located.
In a campaign speech Thursday in Shimane Prefecture, incumbent Zenbe Mizoguchi urged the central government to drastically review its policies concerning nuclear power and energy.
Utilities are paying great attention to the words of the candidates in their campaigns.
"What incumbents are saying and doing in election campaigns after the nuclear crisis unfolded is of central concern for each power company," said a source in the energy industry.
Stricter safety standards, which voters will likely call for, could put new reactor construction projects on hold or lead to the decommissioning of older reactors, causing major headaches for their operators.
Contenders on the Japanese Communist Party's ticket are confronting the pro-nuclear incumbents in the four prefectures, criticizing their previous words touting the safety of nuclear power.
In the Saga race, JCP candidate Masakatsu Hirabayashi blasted Furukawa for stressing "the safety" of the Genkai nuclear power plant in the prefecture even after the extent of the Fukushima plant crisis emerged.
"What is the basis for his affirming the safety of Genkai, although he acknowledged that Fukushima is in danger?" Hirabayashi said.
He called for a mothballing of the No. 1 reactor of the Genkai plant, which is more than 35 years old, and a suspension of the use of a uranium-plutonium mixture, which is considered more dangerous than uranium, as fuel for the No. 3 reactor.
In a speech in Tokyo's Shinjuku district, JCP leader Kazuo Shii said his party will make Japan's nuclear power policy an issue in the unified gubernatorial and local elections.
"Projects to build 14 new reactors should be scrapped," he said. "We also strongly urge the cancellation of the use of the uranium-plutonium mixture as fuel at some reactors and the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor."
Japan has 54 commercial reactors. Three more reactors are already under construction, and projects to build 11 others have been planned.
The first round of the unified local elections will be held April 10. A total of 39 candidates have entered the races in 12 prefectures, including Tokyo.
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