19 October 2016•Update: 19 October 2016
By Todd Crowell
TOKYO
Forces opposed to nuclear energy in Japan notched another victory in their quest of ending nuclear power by electing a new governor in a key coastal prefecture northwest of Tokyo.
Ryuichi Yoneyama, 49, defeated Tomio Mori, the 67-year-old mayor of Nagaoka, by running an anti-nuclear power campaign in Niigata prefecture, which hosts the largest civilian nuclear power complex in the world.
Yoneyama, a radiological researcher and lawyer who had lost in every previous run for office, argued that restarting any of the seven reactors at Kashiwazaki city posed a potential threat to children from thyroid cancer.
He was the second anti-nuclear power gubernatorial candidate to win election this year.
In July, Satoshi Mitazono ousted the incumbent governor in Kagoshima, site of the Sendai plants, two out of only three units in operation in Japan.
Mitazono immediately called on the Kyushu Electric Power Co. to suspend operation of the two online plants in his prefecture. The utility ignored the order.
The success of Yoneyama and his message certainly cheered the anti-nuclear movement in Japan, but may have relatively little practical impact, as all seven plants are inactive, and the previous governor was also strongly opposed to nuclear power.
Outgoing Governor Hirohiko Izumida repeatedly stated that he would not approve the restart of any of the Kashiwazaki plants until the owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco), came forward with a more detailed explanation of what caused the 2011 nuclear disaster in eastern Fukushima prefecture.
At the moment, that is impossible to determine as the interior of the damaged reactors are still too radioactive for people to enter and inspect.
Izumida abruptly declined to run for a fourth term for reasons not associated with the nuclear plants.
The policy of Japan’s national government is to restart as many idled nuclear power plants that pass scrutiny of the new Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA).
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dispatched a senior official from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Shigeru Ishiba, to campaign for Mori but to no avail.
Some of the Kashiwazaki reactors have ben offline for nearly ten years.
That was a consequence of an earthquake that hit the coast of Niigata in 2007.
That put all seven offline, and they were only gradually being brought back when the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami hit in 2011.
That took all seven reactors offline again, and they have remained offline ever since.
Tepco, which owns the seven Niigata reactors plus ten in Fukushima -- 17 idle or destroyed plants in all -- sees returning some or all of the Niigata plants to operation as key to profitability -- or at least staving off bankruptcy.
Last year Tepco formally asked the NRA to inspect the two most advanced reactors with the view to returning them to service once they get the NRA go-ahead.
However, the process of clearing and examining pants for conforming to safety rules is moving very slowly.
Since the first decisions were made in 2012, only the two Sendai plants and one other on Shikoku island have been given the green light.
The NRA also okayed the return of two other reactors on the coast of Fukui prefecture, but operation was suspended due to a court injunction.
Before the 2011 earthquake, Japan had 54 active reactors, providing nearly 30 percent of electricity.
Getting the NRA seal of approval is slow and difficult, but in the case of Niigata, Tepco now has to content with a new prefectural governor, who is not likely to approve final operation.
