Le Socialiste
29th July 2012, 18:45
Thousands of people formed "a human chain" around Japan's parliament complex Sunday to demand the government abandon nuclear power — the latest in a series of peaceful demonstrations on a scale not seen in the nation for decades.
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Protesters said they were angry the government restarted two reactors earlier this month despite safety worries after the multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March last year. The reactors were the first to return to operation since May, when the last of Japan's 50 working reactors went offline for routine checks.
Similar demonstrations have been held outside the prime minister's residence every Friday evening. The crowds have not dwindled, as people get the word out through Twitter and other online networking. A July 16 holiday rally at a Tokyo park, featuring a rock star and a Nobel laureate, drew nearly 200,000 people.
The crowd appeared to be smaller Sunday. Kyodo News service estimated it at about 10,000 people. Participants said they came from across Japan, underlining the widespread appeal of the protests.
Typically, relatively poor rural and fishing areas, far from Tokyo, have been chosen for construction of nuclear plants, with residents won over with jobs and subsidies. There is a plan to build a nuclear plant in Yamaguchi prefecture, but doubts are growing over whether that can be carried out.
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At the Tokyo protest, however, hospital worker Mika Ohta vowed to vote for anti-nuclear candidates in the next election.
"There is nothing good about nuclear power. It is expensive, gets workers radiated and creates waste," she said. "I'm opposed to this government in every way."
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/anti-nuke-protesters-surround-japanese-parliament-16880147#.UBV1p1ER7FI
...
Protesters said they were angry the government restarted two reactors earlier this month despite safety worries after the multiple meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March last year. The reactors were the first to return to operation since May, when the last of Japan's 50 working reactors went offline for routine checks.
Similar demonstrations have been held outside the prime minister's residence every Friday evening. The crowds have not dwindled, as people get the word out through Twitter and other online networking. A July 16 holiday rally at a Tokyo park, featuring a rock star and a Nobel laureate, drew nearly 200,000 people.
The crowd appeared to be smaller Sunday. Kyodo News service estimated it at about 10,000 people. Participants said they came from across Japan, underlining the widespread appeal of the protests.
Typically, relatively poor rural and fishing areas, far from Tokyo, have been chosen for construction of nuclear plants, with residents won over with jobs and subsidies. There is a plan to build a nuclear plant in Yamaguchi prefecture, but doubts are growing over whether that can be carried out.
...
At the Tokyo protest, however, hospital worker Mika Ohta vowed to vote for anti-nuclear candidates in the next election.
"There is nothing good about nuclear power. It is expensive, gets workers radiated and creates waste," she said. "I'm opposed to this government in every way."
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/anti-nuke-protesters-surround-japanese-parliament-16880147#.UBV1p1ER7FI