Antinukes

February 14, 2012

Civic group files petition with Osaka city over nuclear power

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120214p2g00m0dm157000c.html

OSAKA (Kyodo) -- A civic group seeking a referendum on whether to keep nuclear power plants said Tuesday it has filed a direct petition with the city of Osaka to hold a plebiscite on the issue in the wake of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The group said it has submitted about 55,000 valid signatures, well over the legally required minimum figure of 42,673, one-fiftieth of the eligible voters in the city, to ask the government to hold a referendum on power plants run by Kansai Electric Power Co.

Hajime Imai, the secretary general of the group, Let's Decide/Citizen-initiated National Referendum on Nuclear Power, said, "As a citizen of the city of Osaka, which is the largest shareholder in Kansai Electric, we have a responsibility and right to engage in the future of nuclear plants."

Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto will summon the city assembly within 20 days and submit a draft ordinance with feedback on whether to support the proposal.

A majority vote by the assembly is required to hold a referendum but Hashimoto's regional political party, the Osaka Restoration Association, is taking a cautious stance as the mayor is reluctant to hold one, citing the huge costs involved.

Under the proposed ordinance, all Osaka city residents aged 16 or over, including permanent foreign residents, would be asked to vote on whether to allow the nuclear plants to keep operating.

The ordinance will also oblige the mayor and city assembly to ask the power company and the central government to act in accordance with the result of the referendum.

The group began gathering signatures on Dec. 10 in Tokyo and Osaka. In Tokyo, the group has collected some 250,000 signatures, far more than the legal requirement to call on the Tokyo metropolitan government to hold a referendum, it said.