information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
13 Février 2015
February 13, 2015
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150213p2a00m0na011000c.html
With the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at Takahama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture having passed safety inspections, efforts to bring them back online are now shifting toward obtaining consent from local residents -- an effort that could become complicated as neighboring Kyoto and Shiga prefectures demand involvement.
Before proceeding to obtain consent, Fukui prefectural officials will first finalize matters such as approving construction plans, and confirming the intent of the local government in the town of Takahama, where the plant is located.
Accident-related contingency plans must be formulated for locales within a 30-kilometer radius of nuclear power plants, and because this encompasses parts of both Kyoto and Shiga prefectures in the case of the Takahama plant, it may run into some roadblocks.
Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada asked on Feb. 12 that plant operator Kansai Electric Power Co. and the Nuclear Regulation Authority provide a "thorough explanation" regarding plans for the reactors. While Kyoto Prefecture had provided basic consent to sign a new safety agreement with the Kansai power company in January, this was limited to the restart of reactors on the occasion of new expansion projects and following accidents -- and thus did not cover the present matter of the Takahama plant restart.
The proposed agreement includes the right to express safety-related opinions, while also requiring Kansai Electric Power Co. to provide explanations and information to the seven municipalities within the 30-kilometer radius of the Takahama plant. In some cases, Kansai Electric's responsibility to inform municipalities in Kyoto may be greater than the same responsibility the utility has to towns and cities within Fukui Prefecture's borders.
The pact has no stipulations on the "right to consent" that Kyoto Prefecture sought in the beginning, however. Based on the events leading up to this point, Kansai Electric prioritized its relationship with the government of the municipality where the plant is located.
Because the Kyoto prefectural city of Maizuru lies within a 5-kilometer radius of the Takahama plant, which would necessitate immediate evacuation in the event of an accident, prefectural officials had emphasized that it put the city "on the same level as the municipality where the plant is located."
Shiga Gov. Taizo Mikazuki has once again asked Kansai Electric to sign an agreement with respect to the Takahama plant, commenting, "There is no way that a restart can take place without a safety accord." The situation remains stalled, however, as Mikazuki waits for the Kansai power company's next move concerning the "right to consent."
With the possibility that Kyoto Prefecture's draft agreement will set a precedent, former Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada -- whose stance while in office was one of "graduating from nuclear power" -- stated in no uncertain terms that "Mikazuki should seek an accord that is on the same level with the municipality where the plant is located, as he stated in his campaign promise."
The position of Fukui prefectural and Takahama town officials is that the scope of local consent should be limited to the municipality where the plant is located. Takahama town mayor Yutaka Nose commented, "I take very seriously the fact that the safety (of the reactors) has been confirmed."
Nose has indicated that he will assess the matter of consent based upon the discussions set to take place among the local council in March, as well as upon the national government's support for compiling a disaster prevention plan. He intends to explain the situation to local citizens by way of a public program broadcast via cable television.
Meanwhile, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa has made known his view that "the responsibility for providing explanations to residents lies with the national government and the power company."
Nishikawa commented on Feb. 12, "The national government should provide a clear explanation to citizens regarding the importance of nuclear power."
February 13, 2015(Mainichi Japan)
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150213p2a00m0na006000c.html
Residents of Kyoto and Shiga prefectures, who live within 30 kilometers of Takahama nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, expressed their concerns over the safety of the facility after idled reactors at the nuclear plant recently passed a screening test based on new safety standards.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved Kansai Electric Power Co.'s new safety measures against possible earthquakes, tsunami and other disasters on Feb. 12. The utility is looking to restart the No. 3 and 4 reactors at Takahama nuclear plant as early as November this year after the approval of construction plans and safety regulations.
Yoshio Tani, 73, chief of Matsuo district in Maizuru, Kyoto Prefecture, which is located in a "precautionary action zone" -- areas within 5 kilometers from the Takahama plant that require instant evacuation in case of disaster -- says the move to sign a safety agreement with Kansai Electric is making progress. At the same time he says, "I want the utility to restart the reactors after technology to eliminate radiation is developed."
"The prefectural and municipal governments could have been more demanding about their right to consent (to the utility's resumption plans)," Tani added.
Designer Yosuke Yamamoto, 38, moved from Osaka to the city of Ayabe in Kyoto Prefecture, which is located about 14 kilometers from the Takahama plant.
"I moved here to start a life in the countryside, but I wonder if I should continue living here after seeing how Kansai Electric and the government are moving toward restarting the reactors," Yamamoto said.
Seventy-three-year-old Naomichi Kumagai, a resident of Adogawa in the city of Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, which is located near the border of Fukui Prefecture, claimed that if a nuclear disaster broke out, Lake Biwa would be contaminated and it would affect many local residents.
February 13, 2015(Mainichi Japan)
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