Nobel Prize-winning writer Kenzaburo Oe and others led a rally in Tokyo on Oct. 13 to protest the resumption of construction of a new nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture.
Nobel Prize-winning writer Kenzaburo Oe and others led a rally in Tokyo on Oct. 13 to protest the resumption of construction of a new nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture.“Both the Cabinet and the political party hoping to seize power are clearly determined to continue nuclear power generation,” Oe, 77, told an estimated 6,500 people who gathered at Hibiya Park. “It is an insult to the public.”Oe called for untiring efforts to move away from atomic energy.“To march against nuclear power is creating a path where there was none and creating our hope,” he said.Electric Power Development Co. resumed construction of the Oma nuclear power plant in the town of Oma on Oct. 1. Construction had been suspended since the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was crippled by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.Of the three reactors under construction at the time, the Oma plant is the first to resume construction. It is more than one-third complete.After the rally, the protesters marched in front of the head office of Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima plant, and other venues.