Following an April 4 "yes" vote by the Lower House, the Upper House on Friday approved civilian nuclear accords Japan has signed with Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to enable the export of Japanese equipment and technology for nuclear power generation to them.
The big question, though, is why a country that suffered a disaster at a nuclear power plant (which remains ongoing) three years ago would choose to push the export of nuclear power plants — and especially to countries that are prone to earthquakes, like Turkey. It is deplorable from moral and other viewpoints that the Abe administration treats the export of nuclear power equipment and technology as a pillar in its economic growth strategy. Japan concluded similar nuclear accords with Jordan, Vietnam, South Korea and Russia under the previous Democratic Party of Japan-led administration.
At present, the government is negotiating civilian nuclear cooperation with five more countries — India, South Africa, Brazil, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.