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Japanese firms want 'safety first' on nuclear restarts: poll

25 Comments
By Izumi Nakagawa and Tetsushi Kajimoto

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25 Comments
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What are the ways to guarantee the safety of a nuclear reactor in Japan?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

3/4??? What are the other 1/4 thinking? Oh, right, money, profit...

1 ( +5 / -4 )

exactly...tmarie!

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Promises of safety from the people who were not willing to uphold it before? How much is the word of cheaters and liars?

Real security (like in countries having nuclear plants but no incidents) requires change much, MUCH bigger than bureaucrats are willing to allow. They will admit nothing (because being quilty in Japan needs confession - "don't confess and you can't be guilty"), quiet down until Japanese people get tired of complaining and receiving no acknowledgement whatsoever, and then go on as usual.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

@tmarie and yokatta. please understand for 1 moment the MASSIVE ecomic strain that turning off the recators has had on the Japanese economy. The trade defiect Japan has right now is 95% because of the of this. the other 1/4 are probably thinking that the reacotrs are basically already 1oo% (other than when a 9.5 earthquake tsunami hit them) and they think that the economic well being of Japan should come first. That is just my guess. The reactors are already "safe" per say. They were designed to be safe from the start. Maybe these peoples are familiar with the process and design of the reactors and think starting them sooner than later is a better idea, and maybe these safety checks is just a larger waste of money. I am not saying these are my opinions, but I am just guess at what the other 1/4 is thinking. Not everyone is an evil person wishing the end of Japan. MAYBE just maybe they have more information than we do. Do you tow your car to the mechanic everyy time you turn the key to triple check and make sure the engine wont leak oil. no because its designed to be turned on. Just like the reactors. They are designed to be turned and off a number of times in their life time for routine maintenance and checks. and they have been under safety checks this entire time. Its not like they just hit the off switch, ran away, and want to just go in there and hit the on switch and wish for the best.

I know many of you like to hope for the worst of Japan and think the worst of every one who holds any power and responsiblelty. I just happen the think the exact opposite.

-11 ( +2 / -12 )

@Robert, can you understand that there are people here who are greatly keen on Japan, who will NOT sit still while it inches closer and closer in fromnt of tracks of a speeding train? Would you "lovingly" just watch from the side when your loved child eats glass shards?

Those reactors are safe as long as there is willingness in regulators to oversee their security, which means that they are inherently dangerous. They meet international standards "in most part", meaning they DO NOT meet them fully, like thousands on plants around the world do. And by the way, yes, Tepco wanted to abandon the reactors three days into the accident.

Yes, we all know about Japanese economy, how it was already falling when the nuclear bubble was still inflated beyond it's capasity to uphold itself, and it did not help then, it won't help now. You should get a better look at Japanese tech, it is more than evolved to move on from heavily subsidised nuclear energy to any number of renewables. The innovations are already here, this is an enormous opportunity for Japan to become leading energy producer from leading energy waster. Japan's real progress is being deflected because of corruption, nothing else.

And please, leave the "criticism means hate" comments to five year olds.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Why do they ask "Japanese firms" I would think "Japanese peoples" voices were what the government should listen too

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Good to see at least 72% have safety as a priority. The safety culture for firms in Japan is better than I thought.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What will it take to guarantee the safety of these NPP and why does it seem to be taking so long? I haven't heard anything on what they are doing now to ensure they can safely turn these things on.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

RDykes,

Surely you are aware that safety checks in Japan go something like this:

Lies, Lies, coverups, lies, coverups, lies...........rinse & repeat

THAT is the gist of it, it appears FINALLY the locals understand it, sad it took what happened in Fukushima to shake everyone from their "everything is fine & safety" autopilot

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I know many of you like to hope for the worst of Japan

Wow. "Religion of Japan" in action. Do you honestly believe that suppressionist denial is the way for Japan to preserve its... what? Facade?

Do you believe that leaving grievances alone would improve living conditions? For who? Certainly not for those who have to pay for it.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Marie, Robert Dykes, no, not 1/4 wanting a restart before safety.

The artice says 15%.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I agree with Robert.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I think the first question to ask is whether Japan needs electricity from nuclear energy in the first place. An interestinf research has just emerged showing Japan does not after all need nuclear energy going forward. It does not even need it to reduce its carbon footprint, something the pro-nukes have been eager to tell anybody who cared to listen to them! Read on http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ed20120422a1.html

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Safety first should be the priority of all of the companies, IMO. That nearly one in six don't think so is worrying, as it suggests that they forgot the painful lessons of last summer.

I'm all for continuing and even expanding the dimming of unnecessary lighting and for other power use reductions in public and commercial spaces, and continuing energy-saving measures in everyone's home. I live in one of Japan's hottest cities, but did without A/C all last summer. It killed my PC from overheating despite my best efforts, but it didn't kill me...quite. That was still preferable to the confusing and inconvenient rolling scheduled blackouts, though.

I'd rather not see a return to the draconian, costly, and family-unfriendly rescheduling of factory and office hours that had to be employed last year, however, but I'm afraid that they'll be needed again if both keeping reactors shut down and reducing carbon footprint are the goal.

It's a pity that the companies that cooperated, sometimes at great cost to their profits and to their employees, in energy conservation are being rewarded with drastically increased power charges.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I know many of you like to hope for the worst of Japan and think the worst of every one who holds any power and responsiblelty. I just happen the think the exact opposite.

Have you ever, for just a second, thought that perhaps we're critical because we love it here and want it to be better? Spoiling a child rotten is way worse for them than putting them in line sometimes... Your "You hate japan" crap is old and tiring.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Tofu Islands of Japan and a nuclear energy do not mix very well. Bad cacktai drinks to me.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Safety first is the bare minimum that certainly must be implemented before the nuclear reactors come back online. It's highly inprobable another disaster on the scale of last year's quake would happen in the near future, but highly inprobable is not enough.

I don't doubt that the reactors will come online again eventually, either from businesses pushing for it or from the government caving in to the country's electricity needs. In the short term, the feasibility of abandoning nuclear power immediately is probably non-existent.

What matters is the safety standards that are being reviewed and enforced before the reactors come back online. What was in place was not enough, that much is certain. The government's priority is to make sure the new standards ARE enough, and then to make sure that the standards are adhered to.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Nuclear power is the most unsafe thing known to man. By far.

1 ( +1 / -1 )

Rememer 3 mile island/ chehnoble land contamated baby's born deformed turn the plant's off please and make the world a safer place to live.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

What? Posting an "安全第一" and other safety guidelines posters won't miraculously prevent disasters by themselves. The managing personnel should be acquainted and fully aware of the safety procedures, and strict laws should be passed for those found to be in violation of safety regulations.

Bowing deeply after saying "gomennasai" should be the final words of any management-level personnel before heading off to the slammer.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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