4 out of 5 want nuclear reactors scrapped in Japan
Jun. 20, 2011
More than four out of five Japanese want the nation's 54 nuclear reactors to be decommissioned either immediately or gradually in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a poll reported by the Tokyo Shimbun daily showed Sunday.
Only 14 percent said the reactors should continue operations while 82 percent backed their decommissioning, showing a marked lack of confidence in the nation's atomic energy policy, according to the June 11-12 poll.
In a breakdown, a total of 54 percent of respondents said the reactors should be decommissioned ''while taking into account the power supply-and-demand situation,'' followed by 19 percent who want decommissioning to ''start with ones undergoing periodic checks'' and 9 percent who called for immediate scrapping of nuclear plants.
A combined 94 percent of the poll's respondents said they are concerned about the safety of nuclear power plants ''deeply'' or ''to some extent'' after the March earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima complex, but the figure fell to 43 percent when asked in the same poll if they had felt likewise before the disaster.
The poll of 3,000 people nationwide, of whom 1,853 responded, also found 67 percent believe the predisaster government plan to add 14 or more reactors in Japan by 2030 should be scrapped altogether. The survey was conducted by a nationwide opinion poll body organized by Kyodo News and 38 of its members.
Asked what should be done to improve safety at the reactors now being operated, 54 percent said the operators should examine them when the reactors undergo their next periodic checkups while 38 percent called for immediate halting for checks.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 19, 2011)
Only 14 percent said the reactors should continue operations while 82 percent backed their decommissioning, showing a marked lack of confidence in the nation's atomic energy policy, according to the June 11-12 poll.
In a breakdown, a total of 54 percent of respondents said the reactors should be decommissioned ''while taking into account the power supply-and-demand situation,'' followed by 19 percent who want decommissioning to ''start with ones undergoing periodic checks'' and 9 percent who called for immediate scrapping of nuclear plants.
A combined 94 percent of the poll's respondents said they are concerned about the safety of nuclear power plants ''deeply'' or ''to some extent'' after the March earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima complex, but the figure fell to 43 percent when asked in the same poll if they had felt likewise before the disaster.
The poll of 3,000 people nationwide, of whom 1,853 responded, also found 67 percent believe the predisaster government plan to add 14 or more reactors in Japan by 2030 should be scrapped altogether. The survey was conducted by a nationwide opinion poll body organized by Kyodo News and 38 of its members.
Asked what should be done to improve safety at the reactors now being operated, 54 percent said the operators should examine them when the reactors undergo their next periodic checkups while 38 percent called for immediate halting for checks.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 19, 2011)
