JCP urges gov't to withdraw from nuclear power without delay

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on September 25 visited the Prime Minister's Office to urge the government to make a political decision to withdraw from nuclear power generation without delay.

Handing over Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura Osamu the JCP proposal for achieving swift withdrawal from nuclear power, the JCP chair pointed out that as both the government and the ruling party admit, the majority of the public demands "zero" nuclear power plants.

"The government has to make a choice between a policy to permit reactivation of offline nuclear reactors and maintaining its nuclear energy policy in defiance of public demand, and a policy to immediately realize 'zero' nuclear reactors," said Shii.

Shii pointed out that the Fukushima nuclear accident is still not under control, and that the continuing operations of nuclear power plants produce further spent nuclear fuel for which a disposal method has yet to be established.

He also stressed that there is no need to restart idled nuclear reactors and that public opinion has drastically changed to one seeking "zero" nuclear power.

Shii then demanded that the government make a political decision to immediately break away from nuclear power and realize "zero" nuclear reactors swiftly; retract its policy of resuming operations of suspended reactors and operating reactors at the Oi nuclear power plant and start a process of reactor decommissioning while putting all nuclear power plants under suspension; close the nuclear reprocessing plant in Aomori's Rokkasho Village and put an end to the plutonium circulation system promptly; and cancel its plan to export nuclear power generation technology to other countries and ban the export of nuclear power plants.

Shii presented the future perspective for renewable energy supply and the Japanese economy. Furthermore, he requested the government to do much more support to victims of the Fukushima disaster and help them to recover from the 3.11 disaster.

Fujimura in his reply said, "The conclusion of public discussions has indicated that the majority of people demand a society without depending on nuclear power. Swift withdrawal from nuclear power has been the public demand. I will seriously take into account this fact."