Letter of Protest
To: Mr. Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of
Japan
“Shame on you, Mr. Noda –
listen to your people and act responsibly – Don’t restart Ohi reactors – Come
up with a responsible energy policy based on conservation and renewable energy”
Dear Prime Minister,
We protest your decision to restart two
nuclear power reactors in the town of Ohi in Fukui Prefecture. We ask you to
reconsider and instead impose a moratorium on nuclear power in Japan. We ask
you to come up with a responsible energy policy for a Japan without nuclear
power and based on energy conservation and renewable energies.
Here are our reasons:
①
Your decision is undemocratic. The Japanese
public is not supporting you. Many members and parliamentarians of your own
party are not standing with you.
②
The full truth about the meltdown of the
three reactors in Fukushima has not been established, yet.
③
The prevailing, temporary safety standards
that have been applied by the stress tests and that you referred to when you
declared the Ohi reactors to be safe, are insufficient. At present, essential
safety measures that are required by the stress tests have not yet been implemented in Ohi. It is not verified
whether the reactors can be shut down safely if a serious earthquake were to
occur.
④
Any new regime of safety standards must
be formulated and overseen by a truly independent Nuclear Safety Agency. This
agency has not yet been established, and parliamentary procedures have just
been started.
⑤
The sharp increase in seismic activities
in Japan since the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe of March 11 is alarming.
The fact that there are active fault lines in the vicinity of the Ohi reactors,
and perhaps even under the site is a major reason of concern.
You may reject this letter as an outside
interference into the internal affairs of Japan. However, we know since Chernobyl
and Fukushima that the fallout of nuclear accidents does not know national
borders, but severely impacts the global environment and bears unknown risks to
the health of all mankind. We believe it is our moral obligations to voice our
concerns to you.
We also know that our concerns are shared by
many people in your country and that a majority of your people does not agree
with you. We have high respect for the people of Japan, for their sense of
community and service in times of great harm. We believe in their creativity
and strong will to overcome these difficult times, and to rebuild a Japan
without nuclear power.
We, therefore, ask you to kindly reconsider
the restart of the Ohi reactors and to declare a moratorium on nuclear power. We
ask you to come up with a responsible energy policy for a Japan without nuclear
power based on energy conservation and renewable energies.
Yours sincerely,
Date:
