Fuskushima LDP chapters opposed to restart

February 16, 2013

Fukushima official angrily bolts meeting when restart of nuke plants mentioned

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201302160056

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

A Fukushima prefectural assembly chairman stormed out of a Liberal Democratic Party meeting on Feb. 15 after the discussion turned toward the possible restart of idle nuclear reactors in Japan.

"I am walking out if the government plans to restart (nuclear power plants) without acting responsibly in dealing with the (Fukushima) accident," said Kenji Saito at an LDP Research Commission on Oil, Resources and Energy meeting in Tokyo to exchange views on energy policy. "I cannot possibly join such a discussion."

The meeting was attended by assembly chairs from 13 prefectures that host nuclear power plants.

After the chairman of the Shizuoka prefectural assembly asked the commission how the government will cope with the idle Hamaoka nuclear power plant, his Hokkaido counterpart told the commission, "I want you to promptly decide on procedures for the restart and let us know (the results)."

Yoshiaki Harada, commission member and former bureaucrat with the predecessor of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry responded: "Sticking to the policy of never restarting any of the reactors would mislead the nation's future."

That comment prompted Saito to walk out of the meeting.

"All the Fukushima chapter members (of the LDP) are opposed to any restarts," he angrily told reporters afterward. "I cannot stand to be part of such a meeting."

Unswayed, the meeting continued on without him.

"We want to eventually restart some of the reactors," said Hiroyuki Hosoda, the LDP's executive acting secretary-general. "I understand the Fukushima representative cannot respond to the issue in a constructive manner."