William Pesek
By William Pesek
As Tokyo shook early Saturday morning and loud shrieks from mobile-phone earthquake-warning alarms filled bedrooms around the city, one word immediately sprung to mind: Fukushima.
Those who don’t reside 135 miles away from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl won’t understand this reaction. But the first thing most of Tokyo’s 13 million residents do once things stop wobbling is check if all’s well at the Fukushima Daiichi plant still leaking radiation into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean. Worse, a fresh spate of accidents there make some wonder if the Marx Brothers are in charge. I’m no engineer, gents, but next time you might want to avoid disconnecting the wrong pipe, dumping another 10 tons of toxic water into the soil and contaminating yourself to boot. It’s been almost three months since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to step in to help the hapless Tokyo Electric Power Co end the crisis. It’s been two months since his office went even further, saying it was laying out “emergency measures” to take control of the disaster recovery. It’s been seven weeks since Abe told the International Olympic Committee not to worry about that little nuclear situation up north to secure the 2020 Games. And, well, we’re still waiting for and worrying that the next quake will cause a fresh meltdown. Abe did visit Fukushima on October. 19, his fifth visit since taking office in December. But each one is becoming more and more about spin, less about demanding faster action by Tepco executives. Here’s the Japan Times headline the most recent visit generated: “Abe Tries to Dispel Rumours About Fukushima Seafood.” All the while, Abe’s real priority is restarting the nation’s 50 reactors, arguing that his economic recovery is at risk. The Liberal Democratic Party has long been a shill for the nuclear-power industry and far be it from Abe to rock that boat.
The public isn’t convinced that nuclear power is as safe, clean and cheap as the LDP says. Even before new radiation leaks were discovered in August, roughly half of Japanese were against restarting reactors that have been offline for 2 1/2 years. You can bet public opposition has hardened since then, perhaps significantly. Complicating Abe’s campaign is the recent about- face by his mentor, Junichiro Koizumi. The former prime minister sent shockwaves through Nagatacho, Japan’s Capitol Hill, with an October 1 speech, declaring his opposition to nuclear power.
Koizumi siding with the anti-nuclear movement is important for two reasons. One, he’s a perceptive politician with a unique ability to read the public mood and sell sweeping change to the masses. Two, he’s calling for a kind of Manhattan Project in reverse. The reference here is to the US project that produced the nuclear weapons that levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. What Koizumi envisions is an ambitious plan to do the opposite and rid Japan of the reactors the public has come to fear since March 11, 2011, when a giant earthquake destroyed Fukushima. What’s more, Koizumi believes, Japanese are likely to rally around such an endeavour. “As the current LDP leader dukes it out with a former one, the residents of Japan are being feted to an almost daily offering of troubling news from the nuclear zone. Earthquakes are scary enough without having to worry the next one can transport the nation right back to the darkest days of March 2011. WP-BLOOMBERG
By William Pesek
As Tokyo shook early Saturday morning and loud shrieks from mobile-phone earthquake-warning alarms filled bedrooms around the city, one word immediately sprung to mind: Fukushima.
Those who don’t reside 135 miles away from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl won’t understand this reaction. But the first thing most of Tokyo’s 13 million residents do once things stop wobbling is check if all’s well at the Fukushima Daiichi plant still leaking radiation into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean. Worse, a fresh spate of accidents there make some wonder if the Marx Brothers are in charge. I’m no engineer, gents, but next time you might want to avoid disconnecting the wrong pipe, dumping another 10 tons of toxic water into the soil and contaminating yourself to boot. It’s been almost three months since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to step in to help the hapless Tokyo Electric Power Co end the crisis. It’s been two months since his office went even further, saying it was laying out “emergency measures” to take control of the disaster recovery. It’s been seven weeks since Abe told the International Olympic Committee not to worry about that little nuclear situation up north to secure the 2020 Games. And, well, we’re still waiting for and worrying that the next quake will cause a fresh meltdown. Abe did visit Fukushima on October. 19, his fifth visit since taking office in December. But each one is becoming more and more about spin, less about demanding faster action by Tepco executives. Here’s the Japan Times headline the most recent visit generated: “Abe Tries to Dispel Rumours About Fukushima Seafood.” All the while, Abe’s real priority is restarting the nation’s 50 reactors, arguing that his economic recovery is at risk. The Liberal Democratic Party has long been a shill for the nuclear-power industry and far be it from Abe to rock that boat.
The public isn’t convinced that nuclear power is as safe, clean and cheap as the LDP says. Even before new radiation leaks were discovered in August, roughly half of Japanese were against restarting reactors that have been offline for 2 1/2 years. You can bet public opposition has hardened since then, perhaps significantly. Complicating Abe’s campaign is the recent about- face by his mentor, Junichiro Koizumi. The former prime minister sent shockwaves through Nagatacho, Japan’s Capitol Hill, with an October 1 speech, declaring his opposition to nuclear power.
Koizumi siding with the anti-nuclear movement is important for two reasons. One, he’s a perceptive politician with a unique ability to read the public mood and sell sweeping change to the masses. Two, he’s calling for a kind of Manhattan Project in reverse. The reference here is to the US project that produced the nuclear weapons that levelled Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. What Koizumi envisions is an ambitious plan to do the opposite and rid Japan of the reactors the public has come to fear since March 11, 2011, when a giant earthquake destroyed Fukushima. What’s more, Koizumi believes, Japanese are likely to rally around such an endeavour. “As the current LDP leader dukes it out with a former one, the residents of Japan are being feted to an almost daily offering of troubling news from the nuclear zone. Earthquakes are scary enough without having to worry the next one can transport the nation right back to the darkest days of March 2011. WP-BLOOMBERG
