Niigata holds first public hearing on nuclear reactor restart plan
Niigata Prefecture has held the first public hearing, attended by residents, on the advisability of restarting reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.
Sixteen residents of the two municipalities hosting the plant, the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa, attended the session held Sunday. Chosen by open application or through recommendations from relevant organizations, the participants shared their opinions online for some 10 minutes each.
Only the consent of local communities is now required for the reactor restart. The plant's No. 6 and No. 7 reactors have already passed safety screenings by the Nuclear Regulation Authority and are fully loaded with nuclear fuel. An emergency evacuation plan has also been approved.
Niigata Gov. Hideyo Hanazumi plans to hold four more such hearings by the end of August as a basis for deciding whether to approve the restart.
Mixed views were shown in Sunday's session.
A man in his 40s backed the restart, saying, "Supporting the economy of the capital area (of Tokyo and its vicinity) with electricity generated by the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant will directly lead to galvanizing the economy of Niigata."
Another man in the same age group said, "I think many residents would approve (the restart) if Niigata is added to Tepco's service area and cheaper electricity is supplied to Kashiwazaki and Kariwa from the nuclear power plant." The prefecture currently receives electricity from Tohoku Electric Power.
Meanwhile, a man in his 70s said, "It would be preposterous to bring the reactors back online before an evacuation route is built."
A man in his 40s told reporters after the session that the public hearing was "very good because there had not been many opportunities for supporters of the restart to express their views."
Still, a woman in her 70s who opposes the restart said, "Given the diversity of opinions, I'm skeptical that a consensus can be reached through such public hearings."
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