Local government leaders from across Japan have signed a letter criticizing the Noda administration’s handling of the restart of the reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.
Local government leaders from across Japan have signed a letter criticizing the Noda administration’s handling of the restart of the reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture.
Seventy-three mayors from 35 prefectures are backing the statement saying the government had failed to obtain proper consent from people living in municipalities around the Oi plant.
The group, called Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan, submitted its written protest to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on June 18.
Tatsuya Murakami, mayor of Tokai town in Ibaraki Prefecture and an organizer of the group, said: “The government has said that it aims to end Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. However, it cannot show a road map that enables municipalities hosting nuclear power plants to find a way forward. The government’s decision (to restart the two reactors) is slipshod and was decided beforehand."
Meanwhile, the organizers of a protest rally in a park in Fukui city on June 17 said about 2,200 people had turned out.
Eighty of the participants gave one-minute speeches. One said: “The idea of an electricity shortage is a lie. We don’t need nuclear power generation.” Another said: “We cannot entrust our lives to Prime Minister Noda.”
The protesters marched through the center of the city after the speeches.