Jitters as Japan decides to restart nuclear reactors

A year after Japan’s worst nuclear power plant accident shook the nation and riveted the world, one secluded fishing town has become the unlikely battleground for the future of nuclear power in Japan.

Like several other scenic spots around Japan, Oi, located about 250 miles southwest of Tokyo in Fukui Prefecture, owed its status to the presence of a nuclear power plant and the subsidies that go with it – until last year's disaster. Oi's four reactors were shut down as part of a phased-in nuclear freeze that concluded with the closure of the last of Japan's 50 working reactors in May. 

Less than two months later, Oi’s nuclear plant is about to stir back to life after Japan's prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, announced Saturday that it would be the first to go back on line since the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi.

But the conflict and mixed opinions surrounding the decision highlight how unready the country may still be to restart its nuclear power program.

Mitsuhiko Watanabe of Toyo University in Tokyo is among those who believe the restart may have come too soon. He does not oppose nuclear power, but believes scientific evidence points to the possibility of "shattered zones" or active faults, beneath the Oi power plant. If his theory can be disproved, Professor Watanabe says he would have "no opposition to the resumption of the operation of the Oi nuclear power plant. However, at this stage," he says, "I believe those who want to give the green light to the restart of these reactors should not offer indirect arguments, but rather should state clearly, 'safety is not secured, but we are allowing restart for various other reasons.' "

Oi's rugged coastline and breathtaking seascapes are similar to the area ravaged by last year's tsunami. Its center is a collection of narrow streets lined with grand, wooden homes. Its mountainous backdrop once heightened Oi's sense of seclusion from the rest of Kansai, an area of western Japan with an economy only slightly smaller than Mexico's. But since the 1970s, the town has given the region's 24 million people an economic boost: a plentiful and, until recently, uninterrupted supply of nuclear-generated power.

Despite frequent visits to Oi and an impassioned warning on TV about the potential economic costs of a prolonged nuclear estrangement, Mr. Noda has failed to build a national consensus behind the restart. Local mayors from across Japan have submitted a written protest to the prime minister. Some 2,200 protesters turned out at a rally in Fukui city the day after the announcement despite the reassurances from Noda.

What if there is an accident?

Noda's reassurances mean little to residents such as Miwako Inoue.

Ms. Inoue, her husband, and their two young daughters moved to Ayabe, a town not far from Oi, after they were forced out of their home in Minamisoma, near the Fukushima plant, last March. "Prime Minister Noda says he will take responsibility if there is an accident, but he hasn't explained how," she said during a recent meeting with a representative of Oi's mayor, Shinobu Tokioka, attended by the Monitor.

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