Tech | May 08, 2011 | 31 comments

Thousands rally in Japan against nuclear power

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JanforGore
Thousands of people rallied in Japan Saturday to demand a shift away from nuclear power after an earthquake and tsunami sparked the world's worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl a quarter-century ago.

Braving spring drizzle, thousands of demonstrators gathered at a park in Tokyo's Shibuya district, many holding hand-made banners reading: "Nuclear is old!" and "We want a shift in energy policy!"

The protest came a day after Prime Minister Naoto Kan called a halt to operations at a nuclear plant southwest of Tokyo because it is near a tectonic faultline, fearing a disaster like that which hit the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March.

"I'm happy to see the prime minister finally taking action," said protester Manami Inoue, 28, who had a black and yellow "No" sign around her neck.

"But I want to know when the plant will really stop operations," she said.

Fellow demonstrator Shinji Matsushita, 59, said: "I feel so frustrated because no politicians have made their stance clear -- whether they are for nuclear or against nuclear.

"They keep saying nuclear is dangerous but never say they are against it."

More than 10,000 people gathered for the demonstration, public broadcaster NHK said, after organisers spread the word through online social networks.

Kan said Friday he was ordering the suspension of operations at the Hamaoka plant 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the capital while a higher sea wall was built and other measures taken to guard against quake and tsunami damage.

Local media said the suspension would be for about two years.

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31 comments // Thousands rally in Japan against nuclear power

  • Prijedor
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • The awesome Irony of this nuclear disaster hitting Japan IN 2011 THIS YEAR is that the United Nations charter was signed almost 66 years ago, precipitated by the Japanese getting mauled by two atomic bombs.

      So here we are, the Japs being mauled once again at the anniversary date of the United Nations approaching this coming June 26.

      One has to wonder what else we are to experience this year. 66 years of essentially WORLD PEACE (no "world" wars) will it last? More pointedly can the eggheads-in-charge allow World Peace to last is the better question.

      I expect the glass to be shattered in 2011. It has to, because if it fails to shatter then people might start to saying "Peace and Safety" a lot as per the Bible Prophecy that triggers Christ Jesus to begin his ride and end their domination over mankind, and then bring True World Peace following their Armageddon.

    • 1 year ago
  • bluestranger
    • 0
      bluestranger  
    • People will get over this disaster much faster then it will take the contamination to go away. We have become immune to disasters, natural or man made. Has anyone seen more than a one minute segment of this on MSM?

    • 1 year ago
  • Johnny_Los_Angeles
    • +3
      Johnny_Los_Angeles  
    • Japan needs to go 100% renewal and there is now reason why they cant. Being on an island they have plenty of wind, tidal, wave, current and of course solar energy to collect. They are a technologically advanced country and can easily not only do this but in the process become leaders in the world and new and better renewable energy technologies and make it one of the biggest industries. All they need to do it is simply choose to.

    • 1 year ago
  • ArchDruid
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      OK, you're against Oil & Gas, but what if you had an engine using 5% of the fuel they do now? Pollution => slashed 95%. Drilling => slashed 95%.

      Could you live with that? It's doable right now. It works in power plants, not just car engines.

      Stationary AND vehicular motion, TURNKEY. So what do you suggest I DO WITH IT? No one over here wants it. All they do here is bury it in concrete, presumably for later when they want to dole it out to whoever's left after their extermination is completed I guess.

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      Find me a Buyer over there man. What I have is solid and brand new so it needs to be PATENTED ALL OVER THE WORLD NOT JUST JAPAN, then Japan can be making the monies you need to rebuild Japan from the royalties pouring in from all over the world.

      Instead of handouts and donations. WIN-WIN.

      No nuclear is involved => NO NUCLEAR WASTES.

      Get to work and you'll get your slice of the pie [very big].

    • 1 year ago
  • ArchDruid
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      While waiting for your reply I've worked up the design for use in Power Plants. See can you figure a way for us to move this into the pipeline. You need it, and I'm tired of being pockets filled with lint.

    • 1 year ago
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • ArchDruid:

      What's needed now is a system that can be "thrown together" using parts already in stock, not having to do reams of new designing, tooling and manufacture which would take YEARS. While putting my system into a car engine would require lots of that, for using in a power plant would not.

      What Japan needs right now is a Hammer not a fancy rocket ship requiring loads of testing and tweaking. I've got the Hammer you guys need to get up & running ASAP, get the power back into water filtration and homes and sewage treatment and so on.

      You're also hurting financially so I'm fine with a small Cash and much Stock instead. But we need a Buyer who is solid and good to their Word.

      See what you can do.

      Of course I'm a big proponent of my last system => Ocean Energy, that I invented just last November => http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apQTwE9daXs

      But you need this one because implementation time is much less, plus again you have all the parts in stock [or easily imported if not, such as the large generators]. You can get them ANYWHERE.

      We could also have a mini-system worked up for individual Homes and Businesses, instead of relying on transmission lines where there are significant Line Losses. There's no need to suffer losses.

    • 1 year ago
  • Colin_McCabe
    • 0
      Colin_McCabe  
    • If their attention span is anything like Americans they won't be protesting for long. Nuclear power isn't the best solution out there by any means but if Japan kills its nuclear program then they'll likely just start up a coal plant which is 1,000 times worse than any nuke plant.

    • 1 year ago
  • coolplanet
    • -3
      coolplanet  
    • I hope I'm wrong but the only viable alternative Japan has right now is coal, oil and gas to generate electricity for that many people.
      Atmospheric carbon is the greatest threat we have ever faced as a species and we are still doing nothing about it.
      The fact is that fossil fuels are MUCH more deadly to all life on Earth than is nuclear energy.
      But the facts be damned! We are scientifically illiterate about radiation and promote hysteria, misinformation and disinformation for our "green" cause, just like the global warming deniers.
      Life IS radioactive! It is the stuff of life.
      Please people do your homework!
      A day in the sun causes more cancer than nuclear energy.
      Radon gas in millions of homes causes much more deaths than nuclear energy.
      Same goes for medical x-rays and MRIs.
      Ask yourselves how many people have so far died as a result of the crippled nuclear power plants in Japan.
      0?
      Now think how many tens of thousands would have died had Japan depended on hydroelectric dams that failed after a 9.0 earthquake.
      There is a serious lack of thinking going on here.
      Fueled by denial.

    • 1 year ago
  • ArchDruid
  • artemis6
  • ArchDruid
  • artemis6
  • Rohail_Zafar
    • +1
      Rohail_Zafar  
    • too little to late?..this radiation leaking is a true tragedy for everyone..hopefully people realize nuclear energy is not the way to go..the elements produced are so foreign to man and our atmosphere that its a loose-loose situation..cancer is scary and invisible to our sight

    • 1 year ago
  • EthicalVegan
  • JanforGore
    • +1
      JanforGore  
    • EthicalVegan:

      Thanks and yes it is. But it also shows unfortunately that so many people don't speak up until a tragedy occurs. One good thing though is that there are global demonstrations currently going on from Germany to France to Belgium and other countries. Nuclear is a nightmare we need to wake up from.

    • 1 year ago
  • musicjohnny
  • Buddha2112
  • JanforGore
  • August_K
    • +1
      August_K  
    • musicjohnny:

      I can't recall where I read it or if I heard it, but it was something about how Germany put solar panels on their homes and even though they are a cloudy weather country they get over 25% of their power from the sun now.

      It's free, clean and renewable energy and from what I've been reading lately, solar panels are now becoming much, much more efficient and much cheaper to produce.
      I'd like to see someone come up with solar power generating windows for skyscrapers.

    • 1 year ago
  • artemis6
  • Gravity_Man
    • 0
      Gravity_Man  
    • August_K:

      There's a new type of solar panel that uses the invisible bands also so it rather looks like soon the whole planet will be going solar. When you can get enough Energy from an average 1 1/2 HOURS of sun exposure per day there's simply NO EXCUSES LEFT.

      Unless they charge $50,000 per home to install....

    • 1 year ago
  • Incredulous
  • JanforGore
  • figgdimension
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • remanns
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