「高浜町長によって今回表明された再稼働同意は拙速であり、立地自治体の同意とするにはあまりにも不十分です。立地自治体の長としての同意ではあるものの、万が一高浜原発で事故が起きた場合の影響は高浜町を超え遥かに広範な地域に及ぶものになります。この点に関して、関西広域連合は昨年12月と今年4月の2度にわたって、国に「原子力防災対策に関する申し入れ」（注1）を提出し、周辺自治体も立地自治体並みの安全協定を締結することや、安全協定によらずとも安全確保に関して周辺自治体の提言を反映させることができるような仕組みを構築すること、実効的な避難計画の策定に国が積極的に関与することなどを求めています。しかしながら国は、この申し入れ内容について適切に対応していません。より広範な地域の同意を得ることなく再稼働を進めることは、東京電力福島第一原発事故の教訓に学んでいるとは言えません。
去る4月14日、福井地裁によって下された高浜原発3、4号機の再稼働運転差し止めの決定は、原発の再稼働により『人格権が侵害される具体的な危険がある』と認めるものでした。同原発の再稼働に関しては、基準地震動の過少評価、使用済み燃料プールの脆弱さ、緊急時対策所の免震性の不備などの問題に加え、避難計画の破綻も住民などにより指摘されています。住民に対するこの切迫した危険は変わることなく存在しています。
最近の住民意識調査の結果によれば、高浜町民の半数以上が避難計画の有効性を疑問視しており、半数近くが事前説明も十分でないと感じていることが明らかになっています（注2）。福井地裁による再稼働差し止め決定を不服とした関西電力は異議申し立てを行っており、現在も異議審の結果は出ていません。問題の山積するなか、司法判断の結果を待つこともせずに表明された高浜町長による再稼働同意は拙速であり、グリーンピースは高浜原発再稼働同意の撤回を求めます」。
注1) 関西広域連合による「原子力防災対策に関する申し入れ」
注2）http://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/yoron/social/pdf/151017.pdf” target=”_blank”>NHK「高浜原発の再稼働に関する調査（2015年10月）」より
Takahama Town mayor ignores unsolved safety issues, approves Takahama reactor restarts
Local consent standard still not met
Tokyo, December 3, 2015 _ Today, the mayor of Takahama Town made the unfortunate and premature decision to approve the operation of Takahama 3 & 4, owned by Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), even while the restart is still barred by the Fukui District Court due to significant outstanding safety issues. The court ruled in April 2015 that operating of the two reactors would be a violation of citizens’ constitutionally protected right to human dignity due to the unresolved problems.
Despite the approval of Yutaka Nose, the mayor of Takahama in this one small community, the potential impacts of a disaster at the Takahama reactor site extend far beyond the immediate vicinity of the reactors _ a reality witnessed by the fact that the powerful Union of Kansai Governments has twice issued, in December 2014 and April 2015, lists of demands it asks be addressed prior to restart. These demands include a formal role in the restart decision-making process, safety agreements with all municipalities in the emergency planning zone, and the central government taking responsibility for ensuring adequate evacuation plans.
“While the Takahama Town mayor has prematurely granted approval for the operation of the Takahama 3&4 reactors, this should not be accepted as meeting the need for local consent. A recent opinion poll clearly showed that roughly half of Takahama Town residents are concerned about the inadequate evacuation plan and are dissatisfied with the public briefings regarding restart. The Union of Kansai Governments, representing 21 million potentially impacted people, has twice demanded a formal role in the restart process and issued lists of demands that need to be met prior to restart. To date, those demands remain largely unanswered and unacknowledged,” said Mamoru Sekiguchi, Energy Campaigner, Greenpeace Japan.
The majority of Takahama Town residents agree that consent extends far beyond their town borders, with over 60% stating in a recent NHK poll that people outside the community should have a say in whether the reactors restart.
“The district court barred the Takahama reactors from restarting due to the fact that operation with the current significant outstanding safety issues would constitute a violation of human rights. Given that millions of people would be put at undue risk by restart, any local consent must include all communities that are potentially impacted by a disaster. To restart the reactors without that broader consent would be yet another failure on the part of Japan’s nuclear village to learn the lessons of the Fukushima disaster,” said Kendra Ulrich, Senior Global Energy Campaigner for Greenpeace Japan.
The unresolved issues with the restart of the Takahama 3 & 4 reactors include, seismic issues, spent nuclear fuel pool vulnerability, a lack of an offsite seismically sound emergency command center. In addition, there is no feasible emergency plan in place, with sections of the only evacuation road available in a tsunami flood zone.
KEPCO appealed the injunction barring restart. A decision on the appeal is expected in the next months. Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) has yet to complete inspections at the two reactors.
All nine of KEPCO’s nuclear reactors remain shutdown _ Takahama Units 3 and 4 have not operated since February 2012 and July 2011, respectively. Of the 43 remaining commercial reactors in Japan, 41 are still closed.
Notes to the Editor
2015 October 2: NHK survey regarding the restart of the Takahama reactors (see, questions 4, 6, and 9): http://www.nhk.or.jp/bunken/summary/yoron/social/pdf/151017.pdf
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国際環境NGOグリーンピース・ジャパン
