Japan holds anti-nuclear meeting on energy, radiation (correction)

Jan 14, 2012, 11:17 GMT

Tokyo - More than 10,000 people took part Saturday in an anti-nuclear conference in Japan to discuss energy, radioactive contamination and anti-nuclear movements in Asia in the wake of the world's worst atomic accident in 25 years.

The two-day meeting, titled Global Conference for a Nuclear Power Free World, in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, included experts, activists and lawmakers from 30 countries and 200 civic groups from across Japan.

'Japan has (the) huge responsibility' to lead the world away from nuclear energy after the Fukushima plant disaster, said Tatsuya Yoshioka, conference chairman and director of Peace Boat.

'We have a strong feeling that we need to create a network beyond border to oppose nuclear power generation.'

After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station was struck by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a series of blasts and fires triggered the massive release of radioactive material into the environment.

The plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co suffered meltdowns at three of its six reactors. More than 80,000 residents have been forced to leave the area.

The magnitude-9 quake and resulting tsunami left more than 15,800 dead and some 3,400 missing in north-eastern Japan.

Despite strong doubts expressed by experts and local residents, the government declared in mid-December that a cold shutdown had been achieved at Fukushima. The announcement marked an end to the emergency phase of the disaster and the start of the clean-up and scrapping of its reactors.

Rebecca Harms, a European Parliament member from Germany, said she had talked to Japanese experts and activists and visited areas near the plant since her arrival a week ago.

'An overarching question for me is: are people able to learn from the catastrophe?' Harms said. 'Good conclusions and strong consequences from the Fukushima disaster are taking place only in places far from Japan.'

She referred to anti-nuclear movements in her country and the problems affecting the nuclear industry in Europe.

'The political impact is very strong in Europe,' she said. The Fukushima disaster 'has to change the world.'

Critics said many Japanese people were still failing to take the issue of nuclear power plant safety as their own, even after the terrible disaster.

The difference in terms of people's awareness between Japan and Europe is education, Shigeru Kurihara, a member of the Christian Network for Nuke Free Earth, said.

'The Japanese government had spent a huge amount of money brainwashing the public on so-called peaceful use of nuclear energy while failing to mention the risk involved,' Kurihara said.

Critics also said Japan's mainstream media continued to downplay anti-nuclear movements in the country while picking up comments from business leaders who support nuclear energy.

The conference was organized by non-governmental organizations and research centres in Japan such as Peace Boat, Green Action, Citizens' Nuclear Information Centre, FoE Japan, Greenpeace Japan and the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies.

The organizers and those who oppose nuclear power plants want to seize the moment to mobilize others across borders and generations and phase out nuclear power around the world.

Harms urged Japanese audiences to put more pressure on government officials and lawmakers.

Japan's central and local governments 'must learn the right consequences and the right lessons from Fukushima,' she said.