[author
Look carefully through the trees, and it’s just possible to catch a glimpse of the Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant from its visitor center, perched on a hill surrounded by thick woods.
Supporters of the plant may have had its remote location on a rugged peninsula in northeast Japan in mind when they campaigned to bring nuclear power – and the promise of subsidies – to the city. over 40 years ago.
Despite its isolation, the plant is now in the political spotlight, as Japan prepares to restore its faith in nuclear power, more than a decade later. the triple crisis at Fukushima Daiichi.
In a sea change in the country’s energy policy, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced his intention to build next-generation reactors and restart those left idle after the 2011 triple crisis, with the aim of ending the Japan’s dependence on imports fossil fuels and help achieve its net zero goal by 2050.
Kishida’s ‘green transformation’, which could include extending the life of existing reactors beyond the current maximum of 60 yearshighlights Japan’s struggle to secure an affordable energy supply following the war in Ukraine and an electricity shortage that triggered warnings of potential power cuts in tokyo during this summer’s heat wave.
Most of Japan nuclear power plants have remained offline since the Fukushima collapse, and previous governments have signaled they will not build new reactors or replace aging reactors, fearing a backlash from a reeling and skeptical public.
Japan predicts that nuclear will represent 20 to 22% of its electricity supply in 2030, compared to around a third before Fukushima. In 2020, the figure was less than 5%. Only 10 out of more than 30 nuclear reactors have been restarted since the post-Fukushima introduction of stricter safety standards.
If Kishida is successful, seven additional reactors will be restarted after next summer, including Unit No. 2 at Onagawa, which structural damage suffered from the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, but escaped a catastrophic collapse despite being the atomic power plant closest to the epicenter of the earthquake.
“A threat to the safety of local populations”
The restart was approved by Japan’s nuclear watchdog and received “local consent” from Yoshihiro Murai, the governor of Miyagi – the prefecture where Onagawa is located.
But many residents say contingency plans for potential accidents would put lives at risk.
“Evacuation plans won’t work…they pose a threat to the safety of local people,” says Masami Hino, one of 17 residents living within 30km of the plant who last year launched a legal action to block the restart, now scheduled for early 2024.
In the event of a serious accident, 1,000 residents living within 5 km of the plant would leave immediately, while 190,000 people within a 30 km radius would evacuate in stages, according to the official plan.
“There will be huge traffic jams and we won’t be able to escape,” said Hino, who cited an expert simulation – rejected by local authorities – showing it would take up to five days for everyone world achieves safety.
“If there is an accident, it is ridiculous to think that people will leave in an orderly fashion,” he said. “They’ll get out as fast as they can and then be stuck for days without food, water or access to toilets.”
Critics say an evacuation following an accident would clog the area’s narrow, winding roads, leaving people at risk of radiation exposure. Most would leave in private cars, but others would have to board buses. The plant operator, Tohoku Electric Power, and local authorities would provide nearly 1,000 staff to screen people exposed to radiation before directing them to temporary shelters.
“How can Tohoku Electric and the prefecture guarantee that an evacuation will go smoothly after something like a major earthquake? It’s impossible,” says Mikiko Abe, an independent member of the Onagawa Municipal Assembly who has spent 40 years campaigning for the plant’s closure.
“Instead of planning an evacuation, wouldn’t it be better to live safely in a place where we don’t even have to think about fleeing our homes?”
Kishida’s response to energy insecurity and climate crisis won the support of Faith Birol, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who said restarting more nuclear power plants in Japan – one of the world’s biggest consumers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – would release more LNG and help ease Europe’s winter energy supply fears.
National opposition to a greater role for nuclear in the energy mix appears to be weakening. A poll by the Nikkei business newspaper in June found that 53% of those polled agreed with restarting reactors if their safety could be assured – the first time support for restarts had overtaken opposition since 2011. triple disaster.
While pro-nuclear members of the Miyagi Prefectural Assembly helped resist calls for a referendum, an April poll by local newspaper Kahoku Shinpo found that 56% of residents were “strongly” or “somewhat opposed to the reboot.
“All the nuclear power plants in Japan are on the coast…and it’s a country that has earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes,” said Tsuyoshi Suda, a member of the local anti-nuclear group Kaze no Kai, then that he was looking at the power station – complete with a newly built 29-meter-high seawall – from a nearby beach.
“For Japan, continuing to trust nuclear power plants is like a form of self-destruction.”