Former Japan Premier Koizumi Criticizes Nuclear Push [View all]
Source: Wall Street Journal
Junichiro Koizumi, a former prime minister and onetime nuclear power supporter, is questioning a push by his former protégé and the current premier, Shinzo Abe, to restart Japan's nuclear facilities.
On Tuesday, Mr. Koizumi held his first news conference since retiring from politics in 2008, potentially reopening the energy debate that appeared to have all but disappeared since Mr. Abe's landslide electoral victories brought the legislature under his party's control.
In a thinly veiled criticism of the sitting prime minister, Mr. Koizumi called the pro-nuclear power camp "irresponsible and overly optimistic" for campaigning for reactor restarts without building a spent-fuel repository. He appealed for an immediate ban on nuclear power.
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"This is an extremely rare opportunity for the prime minister to use his authority for good," Mr. Koizumi, 71 years old, told a packed room of 350 reporters in Tokyo.
With the opposition parties and popular opinion already in line for a nuclear-free Japan, Mr. Koizumi said that all it would take is for Mr. Abe's shifting of gears to persuade his pro-business Liberal Democratic Party to come on board.
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Read more: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303460004579193241845041068
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