Democratic Party & gov't energy policy

December 18, 2013

Democratic Party criticizes govt.'s energy policy

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131217_46.html

Members of the opposition Democratic Party have harshly criticized a government draft energy policy designed to retain nuclear energy as an important basic source of electricity.

The government's draft policy presented earlier this month says Japan will continue to utilize nuclear power generation if plant safety can be ensured, in order to secure a steady supply of low-cost electricity, without worsening climate change.

At a meeting on Tuesday, many Democratic Party members in charge of energy policy criticized the government's draft.

One member said it is irresponsible to restart nuclear reactors while there is nowhere to dispose of high-level nuclear waste.

Another said nuclear power is not low-cost energy, if the costs of decommissioning reactors and compensation after nuclear disasters are taken into account.

The members hope to wrap up their energy proposal in line with their party's policy of aiming to end nuclear power generation by the 2030s.

They will present the proposal at the party's convention in February.