Japan wakes up

Saturday, 3 months after the meltdown of three reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, the Japanese at last went out to the streets en masse to demand an immediate end to the country’s nuclear adventure. To commemorate the disaster that forced 80.000 people to leave their grounds and contaminated thousands of acres of crop land and surface waters, over a hundred protests were organised all over the country.

At last the small and relatively discrete anti-nuclear movement picked up momentum. “People in Japan do have opinions”, said a protester to reuters, ”but are not used to expressing them in public like the Germans.”

According to a government report released last week, the damages are worse than estimated: some of the nuclear fuel probably has melted through the main cores and inner containment vessels, and the radiation rate into the air amounts to appr. one-sixth of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986 — double previous estimates.

Whereas an increasing percentage of the population demands an opt-out, business and nuclear industry claim that such a decision will bring the country in serious energy supply and financial troubles; Japan relies on nuclear energy for 30 percent of its electricity. A plan to raise that to 50 percent by 2030, has been abandoned after the meltdown, in favour of renewable energy. In May the Hamaoke reactor has been shut, and 19 reactors haven’t been restarted after maintenance operations.

In Paris, between 1.150 (according to the police) and 5000 demonstrated in front of the city hall, as part of a chain of nearly 50 actions country-wide.