Atomic power plant to restart in Japan

Recently, Kagoshima district court decided to reject the request of the citizens for the suspension of Sendai nuclear power station.

Sendai nuclear power station has almost met the safety criteria to restart its reactor. However, some citizens opposed to working of it because of the risk of accident. The court approved that there were no problem with the new standard the government has established and the appeal for restart was appropriate. This news attracts attention not only in Japan but also in abroad.

Sydney Morning Herald: Court approves restart of Japanese nuclear reactors despite safety fears

First of all, I do not believe that the court decision can guarantee the safety of the atomic power plant. As far as I know, the court has no ability to find the truth in any case. Its role is to judge which claim is more rational and persuasive. In this case, the explanation of Kyushu Electric Power seems superior to the activists.

Notwithstanding this, I do not worry about the safety of the atomic power plant so much. Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant was crippled by the earthquake and Tsunami disaster. It was a horrible accident, and the fear of contamination of the sea water with the radioactive substance is still alive now. However, the cause of this accident has already been clarified. The alternative power battery for an emergency was placed on the area vulnerable to Tsunami. If this backup power had been working, the power plant would not have caused a meltdown.

Therefore, basically, Japanese power plants are quite secure, unless it is attacked by stronger Tsunami than that occurred in the 3.11 disaster.

I understand the fear of the citizens. They are forced to take the risk of forced evacuation exclusively. The government should compensate for the risk.

I do not believe Japan can survive without nuclear power. It took more than 20 billion USD in the year to import the fossil fuel in compensation for the static atomic power plants. In addition, nuclear reactors spend much money even in the rest. Furthermore, they still have the risk of meltdown, despite a little safer than at work.

For these reasons, I think Japan has to restart the atomic power plants in order. Of course, detailed investigation is necessary. But it never gets rid of the anxiety of the citizens, because there is no 100% safety. We have to accept it as far as we live in Japan, the nation of nature's wrath.


*Sequel