‘85% of Japanese don’t trust nuclear energy after Fukushima

via EyeWitness News / September 23, 2015 / A Japanese nuclear expert says close to 85 percent of the Japanese population do not trust the use of nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki says the public’s mistrust largely stems from the widely held belief that the government has not been transparent about its nuclear policies. In his lecture on nuclear energy policies at the University of … Continue reading

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Large Protests As Japan Restarts First Nuclear Plant Since Fukushima

via RT.com / August 11, 2015 / Protesters rallied outside Japan’s Sendai nuclear plant and its company’s headquarters to demonstrate against the planned restarting of operations, over four years after the Fukushima disaster that left the entire world horrified. One major concern about the resumption is that no evacuation plans – in case of a Fukushima-style catastrophe – have been disclosed to locals. “There are schools and hospitals near the … Continue reading

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‘Protest Against Nuclear Policy’: Japan’s Radioactive Drone Pilot Turns Himself In

via RT.com /April 24, 2015 / A 40-year-old Japanese man has taken responsibility for launching a drone with radioactive material that landed on the roof of the office of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He said he took the course of action to protest the government’s nuclear policy The man turned himself in at a police station in Fukui Prefecture – nicknamed Japan’s ‘nuclear corridor’ because it contains 14 reactors lined … Continue reading

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Protests Erupt After Japan Local Government OK’s First Reactor Restart

via SBS.com.au / November 8, 2014 / The green light from the assembly and governor of Kagoshima prefecture, in the south of the country, marks a victory for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe which has faced significant public opposition to its drive to re-fire nuclear power.   “I want to inform the economy, trade and industry minister about my understanding of the government’s policy to push for restarting nuclear … Continue reading

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TEPCO public trust remains low as Japan shuffles nuclear watchdog

via Channel News Asia / May 28, 2014 / Japan’s government has announced it will replace two of its five members on the Nuclear Regulation Authority which determines if a nuclear plant is ready for a restart. Speculation is rising that the government is removing the seismic expert responsible for actually beefing up the requirements for nuclear plants. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is eager to spread the message … Continue reading

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More Than 90% of Public Comments Were Against Japanese Government’s Nuclear Policy

by Atsushi Komori / via Asahi Shimbun / May 25, 2014 / More than 90 percent of respondents during a public comment period on the Abe administration’s basic energy policy were opposed to nuclear power generation, according to an Asahi Shimbun estimate released on May 25. The Asahi Shimbun made the determination by tallying how many of 2,109 of about 19,000 comments sent to the government from December to January … Continue reading

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How a Single Tweet Could Land a Japanese Nuclear Activist in Jail

from Vice News / May 12, 2014 / In 2012, more than 15,000 people living near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed a criminal complaint at the Fukushima prosecutors’ office. They alleged that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese central government were criminally negligent for the March 2011 Fukushima meltdown and the way in which the resulting cleanup was handled. The Fukushima police, however, declined to investigate. … Continue reading

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Fukushima’s Taiwan Fallout

via Wall Street Journal / May 6, 2014 / Three years after the meltdown at Fukushima, the future of nuclear energy in East Asia is coming into view. Voters everywhere remain jittery about safety, but Japan and South Korea continue to invest in new capacity. The exception is Taiwan, which may soon exacerbate its own economic and strategic vulnerabilities by abandoning domestic nuclear-power production. Large street protests and a hunger … Continue reading

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Corbett Report Interview: Aileen Mioko Smith on the Japanese Reactor Restarts

from The Corbett Report: The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Agency is currently considering applications from 8 different utilities companies to restart 17 of the nation’s 54 nuclear reactors, which have been taken offline in the wake of the Fukushima crisis. Today we talk to Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan about the anti-nuclear movement in Japan and their efforts to stop the reactor restarts from happening.  

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Tokyo rally against reactor restarts draws over 5,000

via The Japan Times / March 15, 2014 / More than 5,000 anti-nuclear campaigners rallied in Tokyo on Saturday as the government and utilities move toward restarting reactors in Kyushu. The protesters gathered at Hibiya Park in central Tokyo to urge the government not to approve the reactivation of any nuclear plant. Regulators are currently reviewing whether to allow Kyushu Electric Power Co. to fire up two reactors at its … Continue reading

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Fukushima No. 1 workers rally against TEPCO

via Japan Times / March 14, 2014 / Workers from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant rallied Friday outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co., complaining they are being forced to work for meager pay in dangerous conditions. The group of about 100 demonstrators shouted and pumped their fists in the air as they railed against being cheated by contractors hired to find recruits to clean up the shattered … Continue reading

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Charges dropped over man-made Fukushima disaster, sparks outcry in Tokyo

Japan Times / March 1, 2014 / Hundreds rallied Saturday in Tokyo to protest a decision by prosecutors to drop charges over the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns, meaning no one has been indicted, let alone punished, nearly three years after a calamity ruled “man-made.” Official records do not list anyone as having died as a direct result of radioactive fallout after tsunami unleashed by the 9.0-magnitude quake of March 11, 2011, … Continue reading

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Hokkaido city filing suit to stop construction of nuclear plant in Aomori

from Asahi Shimbun / February 12, 2014 / The Hakodate municipal government will file a lawsuit demanding a halt to construction of a nuclear power plant across the Tsugaru Strait, arguing that an accident there could have catastrophic consequences for the city. The lawsuit against the central government and the electric power company building the nuclear plant in Oma, Aomori Prefecture, on the northern tip of Japan’s main island of … Continue reading

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“Citizen science for the benefit of citizens!” Yugo Ono, A Geographer Who Fights

by Jin Satoko / CNIC Yugo Ono is a cousin of Yoko Ono. This is not widely known, and before I learned about this, I had not known much about him. After the March 11, 2011 earthquake, I organized a gathering with friends to discuss the potential danger of the Tomari Nuclear Power Station in Hokkaido. We invited Dr. Ono as a speaker for the gathering. I remember that I … Continue reading

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International petition calling for immediate action on the Fukushima radioactive discharges

via GreenAction.org / September 13, 2013 / https://fs220.xbit.jp/n362/form2/ To: Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) Urgent international petition calling for immediate action on the uncontrolled radioactive discharges at Tepco’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant This is clearly not an appropriate time for Japan to restart nuclear plants or export nuclear technology The ocean, the source of … Continue reading

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