Arab News Japan

TOKYO: 13 years after the devastating Fukushima disaster, which also propelled widespread opposition to all nuclear power in Japan, citizen groups and unions gathered near Yoyogi Park on Wednesday to remind the public of the dangers linked to the operation of nuclear power plants. 

The Japanese government decided to restart nuclear power plants despite opposition from the public, which has grown following the 7.6 earthquake on New Year’s Day in the Ishikawa region and which caused damage to the Shika power plant. Representatives of plaintiffs against power companies operating nuclear power plants are opposed to the restart of the Tokai Daini plant near Tokyo and the Onagawa plant located in Miyagi Prefecture near Tohoku. The restart of the reactor at the Onagawa power plant has been planned for this year.

Opposition groups have also expressed concerns over the dumping of water containing tritium and other isotopes into the sea and say they are wary of assurances from the government and the International Atomic Energy Agency that there are no dangers for human health.

The groups say that the suggested evacuation plans would not work effectively around the various power plants being restarted should there be a major incident.

A young municipal councilor at Kokubunji town hall told Arab News Japan that she vehemently opposed nuclear power and a resident from Meguro Ward insisted that promoting renewable energy could solve the problem of carbon dioxide emissions, thus reducing the problem of storing radioactive waste like uranium.