Photo/Illutration A citizens group representative hands a request to establish an ordinance for a referendum on extending the operation of the Sendai nuclear power plant to a prefectural government official in Kagoshima on Oct. 4. (Fujio Miyata)

KAGOSHIMA--A citizens group has called on Kagoshima Governor Koichi Shiota to let local residents voice their opinions on whether to extend the operation life of aging nuclear reactors in the prefecture.

The group is seeking an ordinance for holding a referendum on the two reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in the city of Satsuma-Sendai.

On Oct. 4, the group submitted a petition carrying the signatures of 46,112 residents, about 70 percent more than one-50th of eligible voters in Kagoshima Prefecture--the required number to request an ordinance.

“We have shared our concerns with many prefectural residents that extending the operation of these reactors is a serious problem,” said Yoshitaka Mukohara, secretary-general of the group. “This request expresses the will of the people, as the number of signatures far exceeds the required minimum.

“Now, the conscience of the governor and the assembly will be called into question.” 

The operating life of a nuclear reactor is limited to 40 years, in principle.

At the Sendai nuclear power plant, the No. 1 reactor will turn 40 in July 2024, as will the No. 2 reactor in November 2025.

The plant is operated by Kyushu Electric Power Co., which applied for a 20-year extension of the reactors’ operations to the Nuclear Regulation Authority in October of last year.

Shiota, a former industry ministry bureaucrat, said during his campaign for governor in 2020 that he would call a referendum, as needs dictated, to gauge the opinions of prefectural residents on extending the operation of reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant.

However, Shiota backpedaled after he was elected, saying that a referendum would be held only if a prefectural expert panel could not reach a consensus on the issue.

In May, he stated that he would not hold a referendum since the panel found that Kyushu Electric’s special inspection was conducted appropriately.

The citizens group was formed in April to call for a referendum.

Its members, critical of nuclear power generation, say that prefectural residents should have the opportunity to choose whether the reactors can extend their operations or should be decommissioned.

The group said its request was the first in Japan to call for establishing an ordinance for a referendum on extending nuclear reactor operations.

Shiota is now required to call a prefectural assembly session within 20 days and submit a draft ordinance by attaching his opinion.

“I will follow the procedures in an appropriate manner,” Shiota told reporters on Oct. 4. “I will state my position when I submit a draft ordinance.”

The NRA is in the final stage of screening Kyushu Electric’s application to extend the operation of reactors at the plant. It could approve the extension by the end of the year.

This is the first screening for an extended operation of a restarted nuclear reactor since new safety standards were introduced following the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

(This article was written by Fujio Miyata and Satoru Eguchi.)

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