The Tomigaia Blog

Nuclear Power Blues

As many of you may know, there has been a series of scandals in Japan last
year relating to the nuclear power industry. There was a case of reactor core shroud corrosion that was covered up by TEPCO for four years, then the METI ordered a year-long shutdown of a Fukushima reactor when it was found out that Hitachi had injected air into a containment vessel to make it appear as if the leakage rate was lower than it really was. (For a list of scandals, please see the Green Action Archives.)

There are also many lawsuits taking place in Japan right now that relate to Nuclear Power. For example more than a thousand plaintiffs filed a suit seeking the closure of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant because of the risk of national exposure to radiation if a large earthquake hit the Kanto-Shizuoka region.

In California, home of the power crisis of 2001, the Mercury News announced that Tokyo may face severe blackouts this summer.

This all seems to me to be a sign that there are some systemic problems with the way that utilities and government agencies are operating. It has caused a big rift to develop between Tokyo and the surrounding prefectures (where all the power plants are). It has shaken the public's trust in Nuclear Power. I think that these scandals may be part of the jolt that Japan needs to see that the status quo is bankrupt, and that changes need to take place soon.

I just hope that rolling blackouts will not be final blow that send the Tokyo economy down the tubes for another 10 years!!!