This was the first stage of a programme to remove unused and used fuel from the reactor to counter the risk of further radiation leakage. Images aired on TV showed cranes lifting two of the 1535 fuel units from the No 4 reactor building. Some 465,000 people were evacuated after the disaster. Meanwhile, the removal of the rods from a storage pool at the facility started last week. Released on Monday, the report is the latest of several to surface, and accuses the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of failing to tell the media that the plant’s fuel rods had possibly melted, even though it knew this was likely. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the country's coast, triggering a tsunami that caused a nuclear meltdown at the power plant and a major release of radioactive material. That’s according to a report by an independent panel commissioned by the Japanese government. While organized, nonviolent, but noisy anti-nuclear protests continue, observers like Temple University scholar Jeff Kingston say the hasty restart of the Oi reactors marks the triumphant return of what's known as Japan's "nuclear village." That's the powerful nexus of politicians and protected utilities that drove Japan's nuclear energy juggernaut for half a century.CATASTROPHIC meltdowns of reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant had less to do with the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on 11 March last year, and more to do with the plant owners’ and government’s failure to anticipate and prepare for emergencies on such an epic scale. Noda put his prestige on the line even though post-Fukushima safeguards and regulations are still evolving. He declared that the resource-poor country had to restart the two Oi reactors in western Japan on the Sea of Japan. That sense of anxiety is what Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda was banking on, when he made an unusual and impassioned appeal to the nation recently. That's close to double the rate last year.īut when a Sankei-Fuji news survey asked residents if they would support restarting reactors in an energy shortage, and provided safety was ensured, more than half said yes. "I would rather not have nuclear energy, but I just don't see any other way."Ī poll released this month by the Pew Research Center shows 70 percent of respondents want Japan to wean itself off nuclear energy. But what choice do we have? The summer will be hot, and we'll be using lots of air conditioning," she says. Public concern forced the shutdown of the country's 50 nuclear reactors after the Fukushima disaster last year. The plant suffered from several accidents that led to nuclear meltdowns in three reactors, including failure of the cooling systems and. The Japanese government may restart one of the two nuclear reactors at the Oi power plant (shown here June 15) in Fukui prefecture as early as July 1. On March 11th, 2011, a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and its resulting tsunami devastated Japan, generating a major nuclear crisis at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO)-operated Fukushima Daichii power plant. Today, study after study shows a surge in anti-nuclear sentiment. But last year's accident could mean that much of the Fukushima prefecture may never be inhabitable again. Japan was once one of the most enthusiastically pro-nuclear nations on earth. Japan’s nuclear regulatory structures,18 insucient disaster preparedness,19 and even culture. Edano's comments confirmed an earlier report from an official with Japan's Nuclear and. 10 of power generation capacity on 11 March and the eventual shutdown of all 50 nuclear power plant units in Japan by 2012 caused a deficit of 30 of the. "Of course I wish we didn't have nuclear reactors anymore," she says. A meltdown is a catastrophic failure of the reactor core, with a potential for widespread radiation release. The 34-year-old is still haunted by memories of last year, when she was hoarding mineral water and wondering whether her unborn child would be affected by radiation from the Fukushima plant explosions. But the highly controversial move to restart the two reactors on the other side of the country is a sign that the nuclear power lobby isn't throwing in the towel yet.Įnjoying a recent day in the park with her infant daughter, Tokyo resident Yukiko Shimoda seems like the poster mom for a Greenpeace campaign. The catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March 2011 forced Japan to scale back plans to aggressively expand its nuclear energy sector. Some 20,000 demonstrators protested against the Japanese government's decision to restart two idle nuclear reactors in western Japan, ending a brief period without any nuclear power generation.Īfter taking all 50 of its nuclear reactors offline following a devastating accident last year, Japan is planning to restart the first of two of them in western Fukui prefecture as early as Sunday. Anti-nuclear activists in front of the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, June 22.
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