The industry ministry held a briefing session in Niigata Prefecture on Sunday to seek understanding from local people for the envisaged restart of reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.
It was part of meetings that the government plans to hold in all municipalities in the prefecture, except the city of Kashiwazaki and the village of Kariwa, which host the power plant, with an aim of winning local understanding for the reactor restart.
The first session was held on Tuesday last week. The remaining sessions will take place in stages during the period until early February 2025. Including Kashiwazaki and Kariwa, the prefecture has a total of 30 municipalities.
About 60 local people took part in Sunday's meeting in Nagaoka, which neighbors Kashiwazaki. Many areas in Nagaoka are within 30 kilometers of the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings nuclear plant.
Officials from the ministry explained plans to allow the restart of reactors whose safety has been confirmed in light of the needs to ensure stable electricity supply and promote decarbonization.
In response, one local resident said: "We were unable to evacuate when a major earthquake struck in the past because roads were cut off. How can you evacuate some 100,000 people in the event of a complex disaster?"
Another said, "Why do we have to sacrifice ourselves to send electricity to Tokyo?"
"We will put safety first," a ministry official said, adding, "We are ready to firmly deal with your anxiety."
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