After taking all 50 of its nuclear reactors offline following a devastating accident last year, Japan is planning to restart the first of two of them in western Fukui prefecture as early as Sunday.
The catastrophe at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in March 2011 forced Japan to scale back plans to aggressively expand its nuclear energy sector. But the highly controversial move to restart the two reactors on the other side of the country is a sign that the nuclear power lobby isn’t throwing in the towel yet.
Enjoying a recent day in the park with her infant daughter, Tokyo resident Yukiko Shimoda seems like the poster mom for a Greenpeace campaign.
The 34-year-old is still haunted by memories of last year, when she was hoarding mineral water and wondering whether her unborn child would be affected by radiation from the Fukushima plant explosions.
“Of course I wish we didn’t have nuclear reactors anymore,” she says.
Continue reading and listen to the story at Amid Fierce Debate, Japan To Restart Nuclear Plants
