OBAMA, Fukui Prefecture--The central government came under fire in the city of Obama on May 1, when it tried to gain support to restart two reactors at the neighboring Oi nuclear power plant.
OBAMA, Fukui Prefecture--The central government came under fire in the city of Obama on May 1, when it tried to gain support to restart two reactors at the neighboring Oi nuclear power plant.
Government officials held a briefing meeting attended by 122 people, including all 18 members of the city assembly, members of the federation of parent-teacher associations and representatives of the farming, forestry and fishery industries.
However, ordinary citizens could not attend the meeting because of the limited size of the venue.
The officials at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) explained it was necessary and safe to restart the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors, which have been shut down for regular inspections, at the nuclear plant hosted by the town of Oi and operated by Kansai Electric Power Co.
But the participants unleashed criticism at the central government.
One said, “The central government is doing things based on the premise that operations will resume (at the two reactors).”
Another said, “It is questionable to restart reactor operations without drawing up an evacuation plan.”
Obama Mayor Koji Matsuzaki said the city will demand the central government take thorough safety measures before the reactors are restarted. He also said he will ask Kansai Electric to let the city have a say equal to those provided for municipalities that host nuclear power plants.
The nuclear plant is located within the town of Oi, which received about 38.3 billion yen ($478 million) in government subsidies between 1974 and 2010. Given its proximity to the plant, Obama received 6 billion yen over the same period.
Of the 20,000 people who live within a 10-kilometer radius of the Oi nuclear plant, 70 percent are Obama citizens. But they were not able to attend the meeting.
“I have tons of questions to ask the government,” said Yukihiro Fukada, the 52-year-old operator of a fishing boat for tourists in the Tomari district of Obama. “But we do not even have an opportunity to ask them. My fears are turning to distrust (toward the government).”
The Tomari district, at the tip of a peninsula in Wakasa Bay, is about 4 kilometers from the Oi plant, much closer than the Oi town center.
The Oshima district of Oi is located at the tip of another peninsula, with the two districts facing each other across the sea. When the Oi plant was built, “minshuku” tourist homes in the Oshima district were crowded with plant workers.
On the other hand, the population of the Tomari district dropped from about 140 nearly 40 years ago to 100. Hard hit was the fishing industry.
Fukada was an elementary school student around 1970, when the opposition arose against the construction of the Oi nuclear plant.
“The strong wind blows in the evening, and we live leeward,” he said.
About 40 years later, Fukada says he knows that many people in Oi would have trouble in making a living if the Oi nuclear power plant remains suspended.
“But if a similar accident as that of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant happens, we would never be able to live here,” he said.
On May 1, when NISA was giving its briefing, Fukada took tourists out to fish as usual, with the Oi nuclear power plant in full view.
(This story was written by Keibu Horikawa, Hideki Muroya and Reo Takahashi.)