Japanese cheer unplugging of last nuclear plant [View all]
Source: Associated Press
Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation's 50 nuclear reactors Saturday, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol.
Japan will be without electricity from nuclear power for the first time in four decades when the reactor at Tomari nuclear plant on the northern island of Hokkaido goes offline for routine maintenance.
After last year's March 11 quake and tsunami set off meltdowns at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, no reactor halted for checkups has been restarted amid public worries about the safety of nuclear technology.
"Today is a historical day," Masashi Ishikawa shouted to a crowd gathered at a Tokyo park, some holding traditional "koinobori" carp-shaped banners for Children's Day that have become a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.
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Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0505/Japanese-cheer-unplugging-of-last-nuclear-plant
By Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP/Getty Images
People gather at an anti-nuclear demonstration Saturday at a park in Tokyo
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