» [Three years after 3.11]Once seeking no-nuclear, but it’s gone after Abe

2014/03/10

The Democratic Party of Japan administration had devised a specific plan to wean Japan off nuclear energy, but legislation to put that strategy in motion died when the party lost power in 2012.

DPJ lawmaker Satoshi Arai said the bill was designed to reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear power in light of the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration planned to submit the bill to a Diet session in 2013.

The outline of the bill, compiled by DPJ lawmakers and government bureaucrats, called for laying a domestic network of natural gas pipelines to accelerate a shift to thermal power generation and raising power transmission capacities to promote electricity generated from wind and other renewable sources, according to sources.

But everything changed after the DPJ suffered a crushing defeat to the Liberal Democratic Party in the Lower House election in December 2012.

Japan’s 48 nuclear reactors all remain offline for safety checks. The LDP plans to have them reactivated once the Nuclear Regulation Agency confirms their compliance with the new safety standards introduced after the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

The Abe administration’s draft basic energy plan, the first to be compiled after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, also dropped the DPJ administration’s numerical goal of increasing the use of renewable energy for the nation’s electricity needs.
<Media Report>
THREE YEARS AFTER: DPJ’s ‘no-nuclear’ bill obliterated after regime change (Asahi Newspaper)

Tags:japanese government, march 11, news, renewable energy, restart of nuclear reactors

• Evacuation orders lifted in 3 municipalities today, one more tomorrow

• Court issues injunction to halt Takahama nuclear reactors

• Anti-nuclear group of India submitted a letter to the Japanese Government to oppose Japan-India nuclear agreement

• World Nuclear Victims Forum in Hiroshima closed with “Hiroshima Declaration”