The nuclear crisis that has galvanized attention for months, along with nuclear power and energy policy, will be major issues in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election next week.
The nuclear crisis that has galvanized attention for months, along with nuclear power and energy policy, will be major issues in the Democratic Party of Japan's presidential election next week.
Basically, all the candidates agree that Japan should be weaned from its dependence on nuclear power generation, but they differ over whether to give the go-ahead to a resumption of operations at nuclear power plants that have undergone periodic inspections.
After the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Naoto Kan called for a comprehensive review of the basic energy plan that had called for using nuclear energy to provide half of the nation's entire electric power supply by 2030. He also stressed that in the medium- and long-term, Japan should reduce its dependence on nuclear energy.
Because those stances have gained strong public support, none of the candidates in the Aug. 29 election have openly opposed that policy.
One candidate who is frantically trying to erase any image of being a proponent of nuclear energy is Banri Kaieda, the economy, trade and industry minister.
"Although I have been referred to as a proponent, I am no such thing," Kaieda said at an Aug. 24 meeting of lawmakers who support his candidacy. "The common understanding is that we should reduce the number of nuclear power plants."
Because the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has for many years promoted the use of nuclear energy, Kaieda bumped heads with Kan over deciding when or if operations should resume at nuclear power plants.
The other candidates have also called for less dependence on nuclear energy.
Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said the comprehensive review of the basic energy plan was unavoidable, while Michihiko Kano, the farm minister, has called for more widespread use of natural energy sources.
Opinion is also split over whether to resume operations at nuclear power plants that have shut down for periodic inspections.
The Kan administration has decided this should be done only after conducting two-stage stress tests.
Noda has backed that position, saying the stress tests will confirm whether the nuclear plants are safe.
Kaieda has taken a more aggressive stance on the issue.
"Jobs will not be protected if companies decide to move overseas due to electricity shortages," he said.
Sumio Mabuchi, the former transport minister, has called for even stricter regulations on nuclear plants and argued for making greater use of thermal power generation to make up for the electricity shortage brought about by the halt of operations at nuclear plants.
On Aug. 24, Mabuchi took aim at the government's compensation support framework and said, "If I become prime minister, I would move immediately for legal liquidation of Tokyo Electric Power Co."
A basic precondition of the current compensation support framework is to allow TEPCO to remain as a viable entity while the central government provides support.
The DPJ-led government had made the export of nuclear plant technology a key component of its new growth strategy.
Kaieda, Noda and Seiji Maehara, the former foreign minister, have come out in favor of continuing with that policy, but have not yet said how that stance would sit with the move away from dependence on nuclear power plants.
Both Mabuchi and Maehara have called for a review of the nuclear fuel recycling project.
Maehara has gone even further and called for a halt to the Monju fast-breeder reactor project that would be a main component of the recycling system.