Zero-nuclear policy, Kono Statement in the sights — Abe Cabinet signals big changes ahead

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Cabinet got down to work Thursday dismantling various policies of the previous administration, including the zero-nuclear target, and musing on a review of the 1993 Kono Statement, an apology for the coercion of women into sexual slavery during the war.

Industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated that the new government would review the Democratic Party of Japan’s plan to completely abandon atomic power as an energy source by the 2030s. He also hinted the Liberal Democratic Party-led government would permit the construction of new reactors.

“It is not about making a ’yes’ or ’no’ decision right now, but a major political decision will be made in the future after collecting expert opinions,” Motegi told reporters early Thursday, hours after he was appointed.

Pressured by a vociferous nationwide call to abandon nuclear power, then-Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and his DPJ-led government adopted a zero-nuclear policy in September. The decision was adamantly opposed by Keidanren, the nation’s largest business lobby and a strong supporter of the LDP, which has welcomed the Abe government’s intention to change course.

“The previous government’s policy to stop all active nuclear reactors by the 2030s needs to be reviewed,” Motegi said.

Abe has repeatedly stated that the LDP would take 10 years to come up with the “best energy mix,” indirectly suggesting his government intends to maintain reliance on atomic energy despite the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which forced thousands of residents to flee and contaminated many of the prefecture’s resources, from fish to vegetables to water, with radiation.

Motegi’s comment was the first from Abe’s Cabinet to clearly broach the subject of reviewing the zero-nuclear policy.

Also potentially up for review, if Abe has his way, is the 1993 statement issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono on the so-called comfort women who were forced into prostitution during the war. The statement acknowledges that the Japanese military was “directly or indirectly involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women.”

During a news conference Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga stated he was willing to unofficially listen to the opinions of experts and historians regarding the statement. However, he stopped short of saying the Abe Cabinet would back the statement, as its predecessors have done.

“It is not about whether we will follow the statement or not. What the Abe Cabinet does not want is for the statement to turn into a political or diplomatic issue, and our basic position is that it is desirable for the statement to be studied by experts and historians in and outside Japan and that I would perhaps hear their views – nothing more, nothing less,” Suga said.

The LDP is back in power for the first time in 39 months after voters bounced the DPJ in the Dec. 16 general election. Abe himself walked away from the prime ministership in 2007, when Cabinet scandals, a plummeting support rate and health problems overwhelmed him. Every leader since has lasted roughly a year at the top.

MASAMI ITO, Japan Times staff writer, December 28, 2012

* http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121228a1.html

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 A cautious return to nuclear power — Though public is wary, new LDP-led government backs resumption of reactors, plant construction

Japan appears to be heading toward a gradual revival of nuclear power generation under a new government supportive of retaining it, but the outlook for the industry in 2013 is unclear, with antinuclear sentiment still lingering among the public amid the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant.

The new government led by the Liberal Democratic Party has already signaled that it has no intention of following in the footsteps of the Democratic Party of Japan government, which was overthrown after the Dec. 16 election, when it comes to energy policy. The DPJ government aimed at phasing out nuclear power by the 2030s.

“We need to reconsider the previous government’s policy of seeking zero operations of nuclear plants,” Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told a press conference shortly after assuming the ministerial post.

He also said that completely giving up Japan’s spent-fuel recycling policy, which would lose its role if nuclear power generation ends, is “currently not an option,” and that the government backs the resumption of reactors as long as they are deemed safe by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, the new atomic watchdog.

The remarks are likely to encourage utilities, which have been desperate to restart idled reactors to boost their business. The minister’s words also leave open the possibility of allowing utilities to install new reactors that have been planned but are not yet under construction.

But the nuclear industry is not necessarily optimistic about its prospects due to the huge impact the Fukushima crisis has had on the public.

“The LDP won (the Dec. 16 general election), so will nuclear power be pursued? I don’t think things are as simple as that,” Takuya Hattori, president of the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, told reporters, adding that the industry would lose more public trust if it returns to business as usual.

“The point is whether the nuclear industry can show how deeply it regrets the Fukushima accident and how far it will change itself,” said Hattori, a former executive vice president of Tokyo Electric Power Co.

2012 was tumultuous for Japan’s nuclear plant operators. From May, the country experienced a period without nuclear power for the first time in decades, as reactors that had been operating before the nuclear crisis started went offline for mandatory routine maintenance and were unable to be restarted without first undergoing “stress tests.”

Two reactors in western Japan were reactivated in July after clearing provisional safety standards created by the government amid massive antinuclear rallies, which drew some 200,000 people near the prime minister’s office in Tokyo at one point, according to the organizers.

In addition to such a harsh climate of public opinion about atomic power, utilities may also face more headwinds now that the NRA is gearing up to assess the safety of reactors in the quake-prone country.

Recently, the NRA has suggested it will be tough with utilities, warning that geological faults under two plants are likely to be active, assessments that will significantly affect the prospects for restarting the two plants’ reactors.

Motegi said the government will “respect” the safety assessments made by the independent NRA and added that reactors will not be allowed to restart unless they clear the new safety standards, which the NRA plans to craft by July to prevent a recurrence of the Fukushima crisis.

Tadahiro Katsuta, an associate professor at Meiji University who is a member of a panel tasked by the NRA with devising the standards, said that “high bars” are expected to be set for utilities.

But he also said he feels the plant operators are determined to meet the requirements at any cost and that there is no guarantee that the NRA can maintain its current tough stance against the companies.

“You don’t know in what form pressure could be (exerted) on the NRA commissioners. Public opinion (skeptical about nuclear power) could also be a factor that is affecting them now, so if people start to become mum on the issue, the NRA’s stance could change,” Katsuta said.

Some political experts said the new government is expected to carefully consider how to handle the nuclear issue, especially before the House of Councilors election, expected in July, because explicitly taking a pronuclear stance could trigger a public backlash.

“The LDP’s landslide victory in the Lower House election may have made some ruling party lawmakers think there is less risk of pushing for the resumption of reactors. But they could still take a cautious approach until they win the Upper House election, opting to do what they really want to after that,” said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University.

MIYA TANAKA, Kyodo Press, January 3, 2013
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20130103f2.html

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