#Radioactive Japan: "New Nuke Plants Possible in a Safe Location", Says LDP's Abe

Japan is trying its best to pretend that the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident has been a minor inconvenience that no amount of newly printed money cannot overcome.

After all, this is the country that has perfected the theater called "Kabuki", where a person dressed in black is on the stage assisting the actors but everyone in the audience is expected to see but pretend not to see.

From Tokyo Shinbun in the December 1, 2012 article (part):

安倍氏は、政権復帰した場合、今後三年間再生可能エネルギーの導入に向けて最大限努力する姿勢を強調する一方、「イノベーション（技術革新）による脱原発依存が、なかなか進まないことも起こり得る」と指摘し「最新の技術をつぎ込み、非常に安全な場所に（新たな原発を）つくるのがいいか、当然検討すべきだ」と述べた。

Mr. Abe emphasized that he would do his utmost best to introduce renewable energy sources for 3 years if his party returned to power. But he also pointed out that "moving away from dependence on nuclear energy through innovation may not make rapid progress", and said, "As a matter of course, we should study if it makes sense to use the state-of-the-art technology to build (a new nuclear power plant) in a very safe location."

　既存の原発の再稼働は「国民に選ばれた議員で構成する政府が判断すべきだ」と述べた。

As to the restart of the existing nuclear power plants, he said "It should be decided by the government made of politicians elected by the citizens."

Well, Mr. Abe, less than 25% of the eligible citizens voted for your party candidates in the Small District Election, and only about 16% voted for your party in the Proportional Representation Election. You do not have a mandate.

As to your very safe location for a new nuke plant, where?

Even if there is a safe place somewhere in the earthquake and tsunami-prone mountainous archipelago whacked by seasonal typhoons, Japan continues to have three gravest threats to nuclear safety: politicians, bureaucrats, and electric power companies.

Toshiba, Hitachi and Mitsubishi may be able to sell their systems in foreign countries, but the Japanese in Japan are uniquely incapable of handling this technology.

But that doesn't even occur to the third-generation politician who is the head of the triumphant LDP.

In the meantime, Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is fast running out of workers willing to work for as little as 140,000 yen (US$1,660) a month with no benefits.

Look over there, say "beyond (anti, or graduating from, whatever) nuclear" politicians and activists, pointing to the sky on the horizon. That's the future we will go. No, look this way, say pro-nuclear politicians and activists (yes there are such people), pointing to a different part of the sky on the horizon. That's the future we will go. People, caught in the middle, move about here and there, but eventually herded into some directions, all looking up at the sky for bright future. They are unaware that they've been stepping on piles of shit.

My only hope is the fact that Mr. Taro Yamamoto got more than 70,000 votes in a district in Tokyo; he pointed to the piles of shit and told people, look, we have to do something about these first, it's all over the place.

Clearly that's too much detail for most people.

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