Japanese Island’s Activists Resist Nuclear Industry’s Allure

[pettypace]

Source: NY Times

IWAISHIMA, Japan — When the boats came to start work on a planned nuclear power plant just off this tiny island, an aging fisherwoman named Tamiko Takebayashi carried out a dramatic protest: she lashed herself to the dock.

The move, while reminiscent of a Greenpeace action, was highly unusual in understated Japan. But it was emblematic of the islanders’ nearly three-decade fight against the powers arrayed against them — their own government and the nuclear industry it has championed.

“The sea is our livelihood,” said Ms. Takebayashi, 68, whose family has fished for sea bream, mackerel and other local delicacies for generations. “We will never let anyone sully it.”

The story of Iwaishima’s battle has become something of a touchstone in Japan, especially among those who feel uneasy in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for having accepted decades of government assurances that nuclear power was safe. And because the plans to build the plant are closer to approval than any others in Japan, many antinuclear activists see the island’s struggle as their best hope of ending the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/world/asia/28nuclear.html?hp&gwh=525BF25C62CC55A4CA1CF2EA69413D9D

[AsahinaKimi]

1. I am glad they are putting up a fight

This area is down the in southern region. No one wants to have contamination there, especially on an island vulnerable to ocean waves that once rocked by an earthquake could not be stopped under any circumstances. A power plant there would just add to the already growning problems in Japan.

[defendandprotect]

2. Capitalism is a form of insanity -- !!