- The residents of Minamisoma are finding they have little support in their tsunami clean-up effort. There are precious few volunteers helping the residents remove rubble left by the giant tidal wave. It seems many potential volunteers decline to help because they fear the possibility of radiation exposure. Kazui Nagayama, 79, says, “My house is far from being cleaned up. It’s exhausting, both emotionally and physically. I want people to understand that not all disaster areas are the same; those that have been affected by the nuclear crisis are different.” But, not all people are afraid to help. Tokyo’s Misae Komatsu, 42, helped carry mud-caked furniture out of homes and scraped out gutters. “I was shocked to see that over a year after the quake and tsunami, everything was still the way it was [after the tsunami hit],” Komatsu said of the untouched rubble. Minamisoma’s Council of Social Welfare is the only organization accepting volunteers to remove rubble in the area. The center says there were about 700 volunteers during the “Golden Week” holiday, with over 100 volunteers on one day. Since then, the numbers have dropped to about a dozen per day. The center says they have requests from residents that would require over 400 volunteers per day. On the other hand, the number of volunteers outside the 20km radius around Fukushima Daiichi is much larger. For example, nearly 35,000 helped with rubble removal in the rest of Fukushima Prefecture in May, 2011. (Mainichi Shimbun)
- The political log-jam over creation of a new government nuclear watchdog group may be breaking up. The majority Democratic Party of Japan and its main opposition, the Liberal Democratic Party, have agreed-in-principle on a drastic revision of the pending nuclear safety bill. Sources say the regulatory agency will be subordinate to an oversight group, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC would have a “highly independent status” similar to the existent Fair Trade Commission, and be comprised of “collegial” experts. The NRC would consist of 5 commissioners, similar to America’s NRC. Below them, the watchdog group would consist of about 500 carefully selected individuals appointed by the NRC. If the Diet passes this new structure, nuclear safety regulation would no longer be part of the Industry or Environment ministries. Environment/Disaster minister Goshi Hosono has expressed his concern over this new direction in regulation because he feels a collegial group would have difficulty handling a nuclear crisis like Fukushima. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
- A petition for a nuclear plebiscite in Tokyo has been submitted to Governor Shintaro Ishihara. The proposed referendum would call for total abolition of nuclear power. The petition was signed by more than 323,000 residents of Tokyo, considerably more than the required minimum of 214,000. The Tokyo metro assembly is scheduled to consider the petition next month. If a majority backs the petition, the plebiscite will be held. The proposed ordinance would ask whether or not Tokyo Electric Company (Tepco) should be allowed to operate any of their nuclear plants. The chances of it actually happening are not good because of Ishihara’s open opposition to the idea, “As I have said before, I believe nuclear power plants are something that should not be discussed as a black or white issue. I think this kind of way to decide things is risky. Why do we need to hold a plebiscite only on this kind of issue? The metropolitan assembly exists (for deciding such matters). So why don’t we have a calm discussion about it at the assembly?” Eiko Nakamura, head of the petition drive, admits the chances of plebiscite approval are not good, “Considering Ishihara’s past remarks, we know it will be difficult to gain approval.” She also said, “As residents of Tokyo, the nation’s No. 1 consumer of electricity, we must think about whether we want to retain nuclear power.” (Japan Times)
- The Oi town assembly has approved the restart of Oi units #3&4. The majority favored restarts because of economic factors and keeping nuclear jobs in the community. Dissenters said they opposed restart because the Fukushima accident investigation has not been completed and the new nuclear regulatory system is not yet in place. The formal paperwork for the assembly’s decision was given to town mayor Shinobu Tokioka. The mayor said his personal decision on restarts will be determined by the assembly conclusion plus the findings of the prefecture’s expert panel on nuclear safety. After he decides, the mayor will then brief the prefecture’s governor, possibly later this month. (NHK World)
- A Tokyo government panel has speculated that a nuclear phase out could cause electricity bills in Japan to double over the next 20 years. Even without the nuke phase-out, bills will increase 30-40%. The forecast was compiled by the Fundemental Issues Subcommittee of the Industry Ministry. (Nuclear Street)
- Unabashed political opportunist Tori Hashimoto is once again in the national news. The Osaka mayor’s support group, One Osaka, is politicking to become an official political party by the next national election. Some members of Tokyo’s Lower and Upper houses have said they are interested in Hashimoto’s largely anti-nuclear ticket because it promises to change Japan’s political landscape. “If lawmakers of other parties decide to quit their parties and support the political activities of [One Osaka], that means they are lawmakers of our group,” Hashimoto told reporters in Osaka. A group must have at least five lawmakers as members to be recognized as a political party eligible for subsidies and capable of fielding candidates. Hashimoto hopes to field 300 candidates and win 200 Lower House seats in the next general election. One Osaka plans to wage a battle against the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. A senior One Osaka official said, “If sitting lawmakers apply during open solicitation, we’ll be able to see whether they are serious about leaving their parties.” (Japan Times)
- The Tokyo government is creating a new regional council on nuclear safety. It is intended to consist of members from Fukui, Shiga, and Kyoto prefectures. Through the group’s effort, it is hoped the three prefecture’s residents will support the restart of Oi units #3&4 in time to avoid the probable power shortage forecast for this coming summer. Lawmakers from Osaka will be excluded from membership. There’s little doubt this will set off a tsunami of negative responses from Osaka mayor Tori Hashimoto and his One Osaka supporters. (Kyodo News)
- The residents of Fukushima Daiichi’s host town, Okuma, have been briefed on the government’s plan to create a temporary low level waste storage facility. Environment minister Goshi Hosono said storage facilities are necessary to contain the vast amount of radioactive contaminated soil from the area, and Okuma is the most logical location for one. A question was raised on the necessity of the storage facilities in Osaka due to fear of an increase in radiation levels. But before Hosono could answer, other residents shifted the topic to financial compensation, which dominated the remainder of the meeting. Residents want equal compensation to all Okuma residents, regardless of the contamination levels of properties. Hosono said Tokyo will indeed seek to resolve the compensation issue before going further with storage facility plans. (NHK World)
- Governors within 150 kilometers of the Hamaoka nuclear station have various views on whether or not the reactors should be restarted. Shizuoka Gov. Heita Kawakatsu said, “We are planning to independently run tests to determine the engineering safety of the plant and the economic rationality of power generation costs, and for the time being, will not approve reactivation of the plant. The government has not informed us of the process leading up to the plant’s reactivation, and has not taken any appropriate action toward the local economy that’s been affected by the plant’s halted operations.” Kanagawa Gov. Yuji Kurosawa says, “Unless there is a guarantee of sufficient safety, consent will not be easily given.” Mie Gov. Eikei Suzuki said, “There has been too little explanation from the national government about the need (to reactivate the plant) based on the plant’s safety and power demand.” Gifu Gov. Hajime Furuta says, “A major prerequisite for consent is a watertight plan, including research on tsunamis’ possible effects, and an explanation to the public.” One governor, however, is concerned about possible power shortages and seems to favor a Hamaoka restart. Yamanashi Gov. Shomei Yokouchi says, “After talks with local communities, I would like to see nuclear plants that can be restarted to be reactivated as soon as possible.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
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