Anti-nuclear demonstrators rallied in central Tokyo on Sept. 27 to oppose Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s moves to restart two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture.
Anti-nuclear demonstrators rallied in central Tokyo on Sept. 27 to oppose Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s moves to restart two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture.
TEPCO applied to the Nuclear Regulation Authority earlier in the day for safety screenings of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors of the plant, a step that could lead to their restart.
Protest rallies have been held almost every Friday evening since March 2012 outside the prime minister’s office in Tokyo’s Nagatacho district.
Some participants of the Sept. 27 rally were seen holding placards calling for all-out efforts to resolve the radioactive water crisis that has continued for several months at TEPCO’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Their chants against nuclear power and the restart preparations at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant echoed into the prime minister’s office and the National Diet Building.
“I cannot accept that the economy is put ahead of the lives and safety of the general public,” said Yukio Kurosu, a 66-year-old man from Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture.