Kyodo News: Fukushima raises concerns over “viability of Japan’s future” — Former Prime Minister: Reactor restarts “a criminal act toward future generations”; “Fate of country” at stake; “Myth that nuclear power clean and safe has collapsed”

Thursday, January 23, 2014
By Paul Martin

ENENews.com
January 22nd, 2014

Wall St. Journal, Jan. 22, 2014: “Restarting nuclear reactors while we still have no place to dispose nuclear waste is a criminal act toward future generations,” [Former Prime Minister Morihiro] Hosokawa said during a news conference where he laid out his campaign promises for the Feb. 9 election.

Bloomberg, Jan. 22, 2014: “The myth that nuclear power is clean and safe has collapsed,” Hosokawa told reporters in Tokyo today. “We don’t even have a place to store nuclear waste. Without that, restarting the plants would be a crime against future generations.”

Kyodo News, Jan. 22, 2014: “Nuclear power is out of date and the most costly source of energy,” Hosokawa said. “The severity of risks associated with nuclear power is high. We have to switch to renewable and environmentally friendly energies, and lead the world in that field.”

Reuters, Jan. 22, 2014: “I foolishly once believed the myth that nuclear energy is clean and safe,” he told a news conference. “That myth has completely broken down.”

Kyodo News, Jan. 22, 2014: “Nuclear power is out of date and the most costly source of energy,” Hosokawa said. “The severity of risks associated with nuclear power is high. We have to switch to renewable and environmentally friendly energies, and lead the world in that field.”

Kyodo News, Jan. 18, 2014: Many voters, however, may cast ballots for anti-nuclear candidates because the man-made Fukushima disaster, triggered by the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, raised questions about the viability of Japan’s future. Naoto Kan of the DPJ, also a former prime minister, is urging Tokyo residents in his blog to concentrate on backing Hosokawa if they think Japan should phase out nuclear power, calling Hosokawa’s run “a nightmare for the LDP.” “Japan has faced many problems, and the issue of nuclear power generation leads to the fate of this country,” Hosokawa said after securing Koizumi’s support.

Mainichi, Jan. 15, 2014: […] former prime minister [Hosokawa] said the issue of nuclear power will determine the fate of Japan. […] Despite the outbreak of the unprecedented disaster at the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the nuclear power policy was not sufficiently debated in the two post-disaster national elections. […] As Koizumi points out, the outcome of the election will have a huge impact on the direction of national politics.

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