No nukes

Actually, the radiation released from Three Mile Island was insignificant--it was equivalent to the radiation exposure from a high latitude long-distance airline flight like flying between Tokyo and New York City on a per person basis. Proof that the heavily-built containment structure actually worked in limiting the exposure to radioactive particles.

The Fukushima Daiichi plant was probably very close to being shut down anyway, mostly due to its obsolete boiling water reactor (BWR) design plus the lack of the type of heavy containment structures found at American and French nuclear reactor sites. What the designers of the plant didn't anticipate was the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and 30 meter high wall of seawater that hit the plant in March 2011, which effectively destroyed all the safety systems at the plant. The only reason we didn't have an even bigger disaster was the decision to pump seawater into the reactor plant to cool off the damaged reactor cores.

With the molten-salt reactor design, to stop the reaction is just a simple dumping of the liquid nuclear fuel from the reactor--a step that could be done even manually if electrical power for the fuel dumping process is lost, very important for earthquake-prone Japan. And you don't have the danger of the solid fuel overheating and exploding like what happened at Chernobyl, since the liquid fuel can't explode.

I wish about 1/3 of them would stand outside that guiltless former president of Tepco, Shimuzu san. I really do.

GOOD ON YOU JAPAN (or at least Tokyo) !! Keep it up! We really need to apply this type of pressure a lot more often.

It is easy for the rich and those in warmer parts of Japan but in the north they are having hard time paying the heating bills and they need energy. It is always those that will not be affected that are protesting. It is not the nuclear energy that is bad it is the way the reactors are designed and built thinking about money first and safety last. Why are so few Canadian Candu reactors used? Because they are more expensive to build. They are safer than any other and in a long run they are less expensive over their lifespan.

LWR vs MSR reactor shutdowns either way, 3 Mile Island, Chernobyl, Fukushima they all failed in 0 containment. That is the whole issue not just holding containment to a minimum. Containment within the compound structure is one thing but once it gets to the outside environment it is a different ball game. That is what the biggest protest is about, that this poisonous radioactive substance is outside is confinement and into the outside world, why not build better containment structures and secondary even third stage containment in the event of leakage. Surely in the profits in time the structure should pay for itself.

I think Govt. will agree if they stop taking their pension.

@Alex80 Actually, Three Mile Island proved that the American reactor design worked. After all, even with the partial meltdown of the reactor core, the extremely heavily built containment structure around the reactor kept radioactive release to a minimum--in sharp contrast with both Chernobyl and Fukushima, where the lack of a proper containment structure resulted in dangerous radioactive releases.

That's why I'm a big fan of molten-salt reactors, where no need for a pressurized reactor vessel and the ability to quickly power down the reactor by dumping the liquid nuclear fuel makes it very ideal for earthquake-prone Japan. Indeed, even if we did not have the 2011 earthquake, the Fukushima nuclear plant was very close to being phased out anyway because it was based on an obsolete, less safe design.

Nuclear power is dangerous everywhere, not only in Japan. No nukes! No Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima anymore! I bet the countries need of nuclear reactors only to make nuclear weapons, but we are able to live without nuclear energy.

If you're talking light-water cooled uranium reactors, not surprised at this protest. Uranium-fueled light water reactors (LWR's) use pressurized reactor vessels, which can be a dangerous item given Japan's vulnerability to strong earthquakes.

The best solution is to switch to molten-salt reactors, where the fuel is thorium-232 dissolved in molten fluoride salts in liquid form, a fuel that because it's already "melted" cannot cause a reactor meltdown. Also, with MSR designs, in case of an emergency, it's just a quick dump of the liquid fuel out of the reactor, which means faster shutdowns with very little safety risk, a good idea for a reactor operating on Japanese soil.

In this country with 100 million people they can't find a single leader better than this guy?

Unfortunately, no. That's essentially what won him the last election.

Whatever. This anti-nuclear mob's rally is in vain. With the economy already in shambles, how could Japan keep up with the cost of imported fuel or energy?

I trust all these people at the rally gave their names and addresses to a list of the willing to pay ever higher electricity bills. They can subsidize the rest of us who do believe in nuclear power. Win win all round.

@browny: ...the lies. Now they don't believes the lies. NO to nuclear power. The stupidest way to boil water.

Wc - you missed the big point -

It's precisely because of the 2011 events that they are advocating "no nukes". Call it a "life changing event" if you will. They were fed the lie that nuclear energy is safe and represents Japan's future.

Now they don't believe.

lack of interest in politics among younger generation is the greatest challenge for Japan to have a good leader.

If there were no earthquake/tsunami bck in 2011, would these same people still be advocating "no nukes?" Or would they only come out whenever a US nuclear sub makes a port visit somewhere in the region?

Abe has no kids? In this country with 100 million people they can't find a single leader better than this guy? Maybe the political world is just a closed group like the mafia. We may as well be ruled by the mafia.

People who have no children like Abe should not lead Japan; they only think about themselves, not future generations. Japan will be safe only with no-nuke options.

A lot of older folks, who have nothing better to do, enjoying each other's company.

A lot of people who care enough about their country and future generations to use their valuable time to make a public statement.

The lobbying footprint of all these protestors with signs is negligible when compared to that of a TEPCO exec.

A lot of older folks, who have nothing better to do, enjoying each other's company.

That's a very tight focus. Did not many people turn up?

looks like masks and banners are representing protesters.

That's a very tight focus. Did not many people turn up?