Anxious Japan prepares for life without nuclear power

[kristopher]

4. Well, it has happened; they've shut down their last reactor.

I guess I wasn't the only one that drew the connection to Children's Day.

Thousands march as Japan switches off last nuclear reactor
4:25 AM, May. 5, 2012



People gather at an anti-nuclear demonstration Saturday at a park in Tokyo. / By Kazuhiro Nogi, AFP/Getty Images


TOKYO (AP) — Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the last of this nation's 50 nuclear reactors switching off Saturday, shaking 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 one of three reactors at Tomari nuclear plant in the northern island of Hokkaido goes offline for routine maintenance checks.

After last year's March 11 quake and tsunami set off meltdowns at Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, no reactor stopped for checkups has restarted amid growing public worries about the safety of nuclear technology.

"Today is a historical day," shouted Masashi Ishikawa to a crowd gathered at a Tokyo park, some holding traditional "Koinobori" carp-shaped banners for Children's Day that have grown into a symbol of the anti-nuclear movement.

"There are so many ...

http://www.lohud.com/usatoday/article/54764792?odyssey=mod%7Cnewswell%7Ctext%7CNews%7Cp