The Japanese ambassador to India Akitaka Saiki said that Japan was not abandoning nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
The Japanese ambassador to India Akitaka Saiki said that Japan was not abandoning nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Saiki quoted a survey conducted by leading Japanese newspaper which said that 50% of respondents wouldn’t mind relying on nuclear power for energy. “People are not concerned whether nuclear power should be used or not: the question is of safety,” he said.
Saiki said people have the right to demand maximum safety measures at nuclear plants. Saki said the issue of nuclear power could not be an ‘emotional’ one as people wanted sufficient energy supply but did not want the power to be generated in their area.
He was speaking on Monday at a lecture organised by Mumbai-based think-tank Observer Research Foundation.
Japan has 54 nuclear plants and Fukushima’s 6 reactors produced 10 % of nuclear-generated power. Despite the decommissioning of the Fukushima plant, Saiki said he was confident that Japan would raise the share of nuclear power (to meet its energy needs) to 37% by 2014 and 41 % by 2019. “We are not going back because Japan cannot afford to import coal and oil,” he clarified.
He also belied fears about the crisis situation at Fukushima saying that there was no meltdown at the reactor. “I can say for sure that there is no melt-down in Fukushima. The proliferation of radioactive material in the air is far less than in the case of Chernobyl,” Saiki said.
He added that the Fukushima crisis would not affect nuclear negotiations between India and Japan. “The goal is to have a treaty [between the two countries] to use civilian nuclear power,” he said.
Saiki said that media reports exaggerated the Fukushima crisis creating panic among citizens and foreign nationals in Japan. While affirming the safety of food and water in the tsunami-affected areas, he called the ban on Japanese food as “unscientific” and an “emotional reaction”.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}