Red light to plutonium

28 February 2001

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has given up to submit 6 of the 8 proposals of new nuclear reactors to the March session of the Electric Power Development Coordination (EPDC) Subcommittee, which was supposed to give official approvals to the construction proposals.

(Note: EPDC used to be a ministerial Council of its own, but the bureaucratic restructuring (see MagpieNews #010107) made it a subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Resources and Energy, which provides METI with official recommendations. All power plant projects in Japan must go through this committee.)

Only two proposals, Shimane Unit 3 in west Japan and Tomari Unit 3 in northern Japan, will be tabled before the Committee. The suspended six proposals include those of Kaminoseki Unit 1 and 2 in Yamaguchi Prefecture, southwest of Hiroshima.

The delay of the nuclear expansion will inevitably affect the Government's energy policy in general.

sources: Mainichi, 28 February

MagpieComment: The strong local opposition and the concerned voices of the general public are having real influences on the Government nuke policy. The approved two projects, by no means free from problems, should also be reconsidered before digging the ground.