KYODO
Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa came under fire at the prefectural assembly Friday over his apparent willingness to approve the restart of two reactors at the Genkai nuclear power station.
During a session of the assembly's committee on nuclear power safety, Yasushige Miyazaki, an independent, said a possible future crisis cannot be ruled out at the plant in the town of Genkai, Saga Prefecture.
He also expressed doubts about the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's explanation that the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was triggered by the March 11 tsunami rather than the magnitude 9.0 earthquake.
Miyazaki urged the governor to seek more data from the central government to confirm that no serious damage was caused to the crippled Fukushima plant by the initial quake. But the governor rejected the request, saying the government has provided sufficient data.
Furukawa said he will make a final decision after meeting with Prime Minister Naoto Kan on whether to restart the No. 2 and No. 3 reactors of the Genkai plant, which are currently shut down for regular checks. Their restart has been delayed due to the Fukushima crisis.
On Wednesday, Furukawa indicated he would support the restart of the two reactors, saying safety issues have been resolved, without elaborating.
But many of the assembly's 38 members oppose a resumption of operations, citing local residents' safety concerns.
The other reactors of Kyushu Electric Power Co.'s Genkai plant, the No. 1 and No. 4 units, are currently in operation.