Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Over 100 Japanese NGOs submitted a petition with 87,170 signatures to the government and the Nuclear Safety Authority on Monday to oppose extending the life of ageing nuclear power plants.

A draft law that aims to decarbonize society, in part by using nuclear energy, is known as GX and it has faced considerable opposition from citizens’ organizations.

During a meeting in an annex of Japan’s parliament, questions were posed to 11 representatives of the government and the nuclear regulatory authority. Citizens questioned the authorities on the safety review of the installations and criticized the amount of trust the government put in the reports of the nuclear operators.

The associations also noted recent accidents due to the aging of power plants, including Takahama in 2023 when a reactor stopped following a problem with worn cables, and in Mihama in 2004 when four people died after a steam leak.

The authorities have tried to reassure the public that compliance standards would be made stricter.

Citizen groups fear that the new GX law pushed by the Ministry of Industry will remove the prerogatives of the Nuclear Safety Authority and render it obsolete.

A question was asked by the associations about wording used in the GX law on the term “contribution to national security,” which they have suggested allows for the introduction of nuclear weapons.

Several opposition politicians spoke in front of the parliament building and then joined the protesters gathered to oppose the GX project.