Nukes - What's behind the elections

July 23, 2013

Only 15% of election winners support need for nuclear plants: Mainichi survey

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130723p2a00m0na015000c.html

Only 15 percent of winners of the July 21 House of Councillors election said Japan needs nuclear power stations, according to a Mainichi Shimbun survey.

Nearly half, 46 percent, said nuclear plants should be eliminated in the future although they need to be retained for now.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) is the only political party that has stopped short of clearly calling for the future elimination of nuclear plants, but only 25 percent of individual LDP winners said Japan needs nuclear plants. Forty percent said nuclear plants should be done away with in the long run although Japan needs to rely on them for the time being.

Only 7 percent of the winners on the ticket of the largest opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said nuclear power stations are necessary for Japan, while 67 percent said such power stations should be abolished in the future. Twenty percent said nuclear plants are unnecessary.

All the successful candidates fielded by New Komeito, the LDP's coalition partner, and 75 of those on the ticket of the Japan Restoration Party (JRP) said nuclear plants should be retained for now but abolished in the long run.

All the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) winners as well as 88 percent of those on the ticket of Your Party responded that Japan does not need nuclear power plants.

The government intends to review the basic plan on energy, which outlines the nation's energy policy, possibly by the end of this year. The "Japan Revitalization Strategy -- Japan is Back," which the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved in June, calls for active use of nuclear reactors whose safety has been confirmed.

Four utilities have applied with the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for safety inspections on 12 reactors at their six nuclear plants in preparation to restart them. The NRA has already begun inspection procedures.

The government is required to determine how it will characterize nuclear power as its future energy strategy will be called into question.

In the meantime, successful candidates in the upper house election are split over whether Japan should promote the export of nuclear reactors -- with 32 percent calling for the promotion of sales of nuclear reactors overseas and 37 percent opposing the idea.

By party affiliation, 48 percent of LDP winners called for the promotion of nuclear plant exports, well above the 11 percent who were opposed. Similarly, just half of the JRP winners called for the promotion of nuclear reactor exports, while 25 percent were opposed. Nearly half, or 47 percent of the DPJ successful candidates and 73 percent of New Komeito winners as well all the JCP and SDP winners were opposed to exporting nuclear reactors.

New Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi has suggested the party will approve the export of nuclear reactors with some conditions attached while many of its legislators are wary of such a move. Since Prime Minister Abe is actively promoting the sale of nuclear reactors overseas, New Komeito is expected to support the move to prevent a split within the coalition government.

The survey has also hinted that the upper house is gradually leaning toward considering the possession of nuclear weapons.

Over half, or 64 percent of the overall winners, said Japan should not consider possessing nuclear arms both now and in the future, down 13 points in a survey on winners of the 2010 upper house poll. Nearly one in three successful candidates -- 28 percent -- said Japan should consider arming itself with nuclear weapons depending on the international situation, an increase of 10 points from 2010.

Of successful candidates in the LDP that scored a landslide victory in the election, 46 percent said Japan should consider possessing nuclear arms depending on the international situation, slightly above the 43 percent who were opposed to the idea. Of the 2010 LDP winners, 34 percent are supportive of the idea. The increase apparently reflects the increasingly severe security environment surrounding Japan as a result of the progress in North Korea's nuclear weapons development.

All New Komeito winners said Japan should not consider possessing nuclear arms, highlighting a wide gap in nuclear policy within the ruling coalition.

Among opposition parties, an overwhelming majority, or 93 percent of successful candidates fielded by the DPJ, as well as all Your Party, JCP and SDP winners said Japan should not consider possessing nuclear bombs.

In contrast, over 60 percent of JRP candidates who won the July 21 poll called for considering whether Japan should possess nuclear arms

Editorial: Election result not an endorsement for nuclear power

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20130723p2a00m0na010000c.html

Some people might be led to think the landslide victory the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) registered in the July 21 House of Councillors election gives the party the go-ahead to promote nuclear power. They would be wrong.

Admittedly, the LDP was the only party that did not advance a zero-nuclear policy during its election campaign. The party said it would restart nuclear reactors that had cleared new safety standards, and would do its utmost to win understanding from local bodies in areas where these reactors are located.

But looking at opinion polls to date, there is no mistaking the fact that many people desire a society free from reliance on nuclear power. In a poll by the Mainichi Shimbun before the election, the majority of respondents said they thought that nuclear reactors should not be restarted even if they had passed new safety standards.

In the upper house election, the parties that could accommodate people seeking a society free of nuclear power plants or free from reliance on nuclear power were scattered about. This, and the LDP's failure to bring the full scope of its energy policy into the light, meant there was no deep debate between the ruling and opposition parties over nuclear power. As a result, the public's preferences weren't consolidated.

Still, Japanese Communist Party (JCP) newcomer Yoshiko Kira, and independent newcomer Taro Yamamoto, who both campaigned on a platform of getting rid of Japan's nuclear power plants, won seats in the Tokyo electoral district -- a sign that a significant number of voters were focusing on eliminating nuclear power.

We should remind ourselves that the LDP itself is not actively promoting nuclear power. In the lead-up to the election, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated he wanted to "reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power." And the LDP's coalition partner New Komeito, has called for an end to nuclear power.

That being the case, the LDP now needs to show the public its energy policy in its entirety, and indicate how it will reduce the nation's reliance on nuclear power. It also needs to decide on a course for the nation's nuclear fuel cycle and the disposal of nuclear waste. One starting point is basic policy on energy to be compiled at the end of the year.

The LDP maintains that it will set out to introduce the greatest possible degree of renewable energy over the next three years and decide on the best ratio of nuclear power and other energy sources within the next 10 years. But if it takes 10 years to reach a decision, the party's stance can neither be called a "project" nor a "policy"; it is simply an "outcome."

First the party should unveil its vision for nuclear power and present targets for other sources of energy to fit this mold. If it fails to do this, the desire for renewable energy, highly efficient forms of thermal power and energy conservation will grow weak. Energy and power reforms, such as liberalization of the power market and the separation of power generation and transmission, will also languish. The LDP needs to let the public know that in order to reverse the nuclear power promotion policies that have stood to date, Japan will face a heavier burden for a certain period.

Naturally, the government must avoid rushing to restart nuclear reactors or interfering in the decisions of the Nuclear Regulation Authority. We must not forget that restarting a nuclear reactor is naturally accompanied by a degree of risk.