▮Petition for the Immediate Suspension of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant
Addressed to:
Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
Mr. Motoo Hayashi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Ms. Tamayo Marukawa, Minister of State for the Nuclear Emergency Preparedness
Mr. Yuichiro Ito, Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
Mr. Michiaki Uriu, Representative Director, Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.
Issued by:
The Right Reverend Ichiro Shibusawa, Chairperson, the Peace and Justice Committee of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan)
Reverend Makito Aizawa, Chairperson of the Executive Committee, “Project on Nuclear Power and Radiation” of Nippon Sei Ko Kai
Date: April 20th, 2016
Petition for the Immediate Suspension of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant
On April 14th and 16th, major earthquakes, with intensities of 7 and 6 on the Japanese Seismic Intensity Scale, respectively, struck Kumamoto, Kyushu, and its surroundings. Aftershocks have been occurring in the region since then, while the epicenters of these tremors have been on the move.
Kagoshima, a prefecture adjacent to Kumamoto, hosts Kyushu Electric Power’s Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. Experts say that this plant stands on the major active fault that is considered to have caused the current earthquakes. After the earthquakes, the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant remains in operation. It is quite easy to imagine that, should an accident similar to that of Fukushima Daiichi hit Sendai, most of Kyushu would be contaminated by radiation. We hereby petition for an immediate suspension of Sendai Nuclear Power Plant’s operation in order to protect Kyushu’s natural wealth and the lives of its residents.
On April 16th, Minister of the Environment Marukawa, who also serves as the Minister of State for Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, reported, at the national government’s headquarters meeting for earthquake emergency measures, that, “The Nuclear Regulation Authority determined there is no need to suspend Sendai’s ongoing operation.” Every time a major aftershock struck, the Authority repeatedly said, “There is no safety issue.” However, once a major nuclear accident occurs, there is no way to undo the damage.
We hereby adamantly demand that the operations of all of Japan’s nuclear power plants be suspended immediately. Furthermore, we also demand that all nuclear power plants be decommissioned, to preserve our nature and protect human lives.
At our General Synod of May, 2012, Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan) adopted a resolution titled: “For a World without Nuclear Power Plants.” The resolution calls for a major shift in national energy policies. We firmly repent for humankind’s history of tolerating nuclear power plants which threaten the God-given lives of all people, and we call for the further development of safe, alternative energy sources and the abolishment of nuclear power.
The explosions and radioactive fallout from Fukushima Daiichi, in March, 2011, forced numerous citizens to leave their cherished hometowns behind. Many are still living as refugees, as you know very well. Moreover, an abundance of radioactive substances is still leaking from the nuclear power plant today, contaminating the ocean, the atmosphere, and the soil—again, as you know very well.
We have yet to develop any technology for processing radioactive substances safely, and there are heaps of contaminated soil and other contaminated waste that have been collected and are still piled up here and there in Fukushima. Countless citizens are exposed to danger. This is the result of nuclear power. Still, you keep restarting nuclear power plants. Why do you insist on exposing people to radioactive danger? Many are pointing out the dangers accompanying nuclear power both in and out of Japan. You are responsible to protect the lives and livelihoods of citizens. To say that an accident was “beyond expectations” is no justifiable excuse. To prevent a disaster, we petition for the immediate suspension of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant.
▮A Protest Statement against the Restart of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant (Kagoshima, Japan)
Addressed to:
Mr. Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan
Mr. Michiaki Uriu, President, Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.
Issued by:
The Right Reverend Ichiro Shibusawa, Chairperson, the Peace and Justice Committee of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan)
Reverend Kenzo Koshiyama, Acting Chairperson, the “Project on Nuclear Power and Radiation” of Nippon Sei Ko Kai
Date: August 14th, 2015
A Protest Statement against the Restart of the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant
Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc. has restarted Sendai Nuclear Power Plant’s Unit 1 reactor on August 11th. It is clear that the Abe Cabinet and respective power companies intend to fast-track the process of restarting existing nuclear plants without proper debate and consensus while taking advantage of the examination procedure as a test run, their main concern is to maintain Japan’s reliance on nuclear energy. Furthermore, serious issues pointed out in the proposed emergency escape plan for the Sendai NPP makes it obvious that the facility is ill-prepared for an impending disaster and various polls show most citizens are vehemently opposed to the restart. The Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions has also been questioning the decisions reached by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, with respect to possibilities of major volcanic eruptions. More importantly, the nation has not secured a disposal area for high-level radioactive waste, nor has it made clear who is responsible in view of a severe accident.
On the other hand, victims of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant meltdown are still living as refugees with no solution in sight for their woes. Although decontamination work is in progress, it is proven to be rather ineffective as areas with high radioactivity are still prevalent and health concerns of those who live there are constantly mounting because adverse effects of radiation may take years to manifest – possibly in many generations to come.
Nonetheless, Japan’s central government remains very keen on exporting its nuclear technology to other countries as part of its economic growth strategy; they are more than willing to allow nuclear plants from going online to accomplish this goal while being bombarded with harsh criticisms at home and abroad. In short, giving the go-ahead by trampling the people’s will and their well-justified concerns is outrageous and unwise. It is an act of blasphemy to all the victims of the nuclear meltdown if we do not learn from past mistakes.
The correct energy policy for the Japanese government to take on is to decentralize power grids and allowing communities to generate electricity using renewable energy. We have to learn from the experiences of the Fukushima meltdown and make a new start towards a society powered by clean and sustainable energy.
We, the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan are against nuclear power which threatens lives created by God, subverts the creation, and deprives people of peace. As Christians, we are fiercely opposed to the restart of any nuclear power plant and hereby urge all such facilities to be decommissioned with immediate effect.
▮Statement of Protest against
the “local consents”
given by the Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
and the Prefectural Assembly of Kagoshima
to the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant’s restart
The 10th day of November, 2014
Addressed to:
Governor Yuichiro Itoh of Kagoshima Prefecture,
The honorable members of the Prefectural Assembly of Kagoshima,
Issued by:
The Right Reverend Ichiro Shibusawa, Chairperson, the Peace and Justice Committee of Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan)
The Reverend Kiyoshi Nomura, Executive Chairperson, the No-Nuke Project of Nippon Sei Ko Kai
Statement of Protest against
the “local consents”
given by the Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
and the Prefectural Assembly of Kagoshima
to the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant’s restart
On November 7th, 2014, the Prefectural Assembly of Kagoshima passed the petition to restart the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. This was followed by the prefecture’s Governor Yuichiro Itoh, who expressed his consent to the restart. These facts took us, the committee and the Project issuing this Statement, by sheer surprise, as something incredible. Voices are loud pointing out how disastrous and hazardous nuclear energy and radiation truly are, both in and out of Japan. While you, the Governor and the Assembly, are obliged to protect the lives and livelihood of your prefecture’s citizens, your consent to the restart proves you are more concerned with economy than with citizens’ lives – this is the impression shared by numerous people of the world.
We are certain that you all know very well the explosions and radiation leakage at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant of March 2011 forced countless citizens out of their beloved hometowns. Even today, many of them are still living in temporary housings as evacuees. Yet another disaster that is still happening today is that some gigantic quantities of radioactive substances are leaking out of the Nuclear Plant, contaminating the ocean, soil, and air, and we are sure you are aware of this disaster as well. Furthermore, in much of Fukushima, the radioactive soil collected by the “decontamination” work there is simply piled up at numerous places in the prefecture, since we, humans, have yet to find out a technology to process radioactive substances safely. We are certain you are well aware of this danger as well. These are some of the harm nuclear power stations can do. While many are aware of those dangers, what necessity is there to restart a nuclear power plant and expose people to such grave dangers??
Moreover, in your own prefecture, many municipalities close to the Sendai Plant, for instance Ichikikushino City, have adopted a resolution to oppose the Plant’s restart, according to media reports. Elsewhere, the Volcanological Society of Japan called for a reconsideration of the volcanic effects evaluation guide on the Nuclear Plant prepared by the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan, which presumed that it was feasible to predict a major volcanic eruption. While Governor Itoh said the volcanic risks were not an issue, following explanations given by Kyushu Electric Power, the Volcanological Society is criticizing it, saying such a no-problem recognition is diagonally opposed to the current scientific knowledge.
Your decision of the consent to the nuclear plant restart, while all those oppositions and questions are roaring, is an act of betrayal to your own people and of disregard to safety. We have to say, in consenting to the restart, you have abandoned your duty to protect your own people’s lives.
We, Nippon Sei Ko Kai (the Anglican-Episcopal Church in Japan), adopted a statement titled “For a World without Nuclear Power Plants,” at our general Synod convened in May 2012. The heart of its message is that we must not threaten any lives created by God. We, humans, need to repent of our past, in which we allowed for nuclear power plants, a major threat to lives. It is high time we should change our energy policies to eliminate this source of dangers and turn to safer renewable sources of energy. We are convinced that this demand is shared not just by Christians but by many other citizens as well.
Standing upon the viewpoints described above, we hereby issue this Statement of Protest against to the Governor and the Prefectural Assembly of Kagoshima Prefecture, demanding that you should define and implement policies whose top priority is your own people’s lives.
To Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:
Request Regarding the Application by the Electric Companies for Resuming Operation at Nuclear Power Plants
We are quite indignant at the application by the four power companies for resuming operation at 10 reactors of five nuclear power plants. The dangerous nature and problems of the nuclear power generation remains unchanged and no measures have been taken to cope with the problems. Far from “solution”, the nuclear disaster at the No.1 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to contaminate the local and global environment by the accumulating nuclear fallout. It has become evident that the “decontamination” which has been applied so far cannot reduce the radiation in the contaminated area anymore. The children in the area are compelled to live in such a dangerous situation. The amount of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive nuclear waste is steadily increasing and the deceptive measures are being taken for “intermediate storage of nuclear waste”.
Nevertheless, the electric power companies filed an application to the government to ask for permission to resume operation at nuclear power plants. Does the government approve the resumption of operation on the basis of “renewed standard of operation”? From the Christian point of view, we request that the government should not approve the resumption of operation at nuclear power plants which threaten all lives on earth, not to speak of human lives. We request that the government should immediately decommission all the nuclear reactors including Ooi Nuclear Plant which is now in operation, and that it should encourage the development of adequate alternative source of energy.
July 19, 2013
NSKK No-Nuke Project
Chairperson Rev. Timothy Kiyoshi Nomura