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Japan pitches nuclear restart in tightly controlled townhalls
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/10/us-japan-nuclear-restart-idUSKCN0HZ0SB20141010
Japan pitches nuclear restart in tightly controlled townhalls
By Kentaro Hamada
SATSUMASENDAI Japan Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:45am EDT
(Reuters) - As part of a plan to restart its nuclear industry, Japan on Thursday began a controversial consultation process with local residents near idled reactors that was criticized for failing to give everyone in the region a say.
More than a year after Japan's last reactor was shut down in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, officials began a series of townhall meetings to explain the approval process that cleared the Sendai plant in the southwest of the country for restart.
But local authorities set strict ground rules for the first meeting in Satsumasendai, the coastal city of 98,000 people 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo that hosts the two-reactor Kyushu Electric Power Co facility.
<snip>
The government says it will defer to local authorities before proceeding, but there are no legally binding rules governing the consultation process.
<snip>
In Ichikikushikino, a town less than 5 km from the plant, more than half the 30,000 residents signed a petition opposing the restart. That town and nearby Hioki city, with 50,000 people, have both formally asked to be part of the approval process, but Governor Ito has refused.
<snip>
City and prefectural officials hosting Thursday's townhall barred the 1,000 residents who packed a concert hall from recording the briefing and ruled out questions on such areas of concern as evacuation plans or the broad issue of restarts.
<snip>
Japan pitches nuclear restart in tightly controlled townhalls
By Kentaro Hamada
SATSUMASENDAI Japan Fri Oct 10, 2014 5:45am EDT
(Reuters) - As part of a plan to restart its nuclear industry, Japan on Thursday began a controversial consultation process with local residents near idled reactors that was criticized for failing to give everyone in the region a say.
More than a year after Japan's last reactor was shut down in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, officials began a series of townhall meetings to explain the approval process that cleared the Sendai plant in the southwest of the country for restart.
But local authorities set strict ground rules for the first meeting in Satsumasendai, the coastal city of 98,000 people 1,000 km (600 miles) southwest of Tokyo that hosts the two-reactor Kyushu Electric Power Co facility.
<snip>
The government says it will defer to local authorities before proceeding, but there are no legally binding rules governing the consultation process.
<snip>
In Ichikikushikino, a town less than 5 km from the plant, more than half the 30,000 residents signed a petition opposing the restart. That town and nearby Hioki city, with 50,000 people, have both formally asked to be part of the approval process, but Governor Ito has refused.
<snip>
City and prefectural officials hosting Thursday's townhall barred the 1,000 residents who packed a concert hall from recording the briefing and ruled out questions on such areas of concern as evacuation plans or the broad issue of restarts.
<snip>
