Nearly 40 months since the triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011, steps taken so far by the Abe administration show that it is intent on pushing nuclear power generation. Even as opinion polls indicate that a majority of people would like to see Japan shed its dependence on nuclear power, the administration appears to be trying to turn the clock back to before 2011, refusing to learn from the lessons of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.
By pushing his pro-nuclear power policies, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and officials of his administration are making light of the sufferings of people whose communities and properties have been contaminated by radioactive fallout from the crippled Tepco plant.
In Fukushima alone, more than 120,000 people remain displaced from their homes, and more than 1,600 people have died due to health problems, some triggered by stress, since the evacuation began — more than the number of Fukushima residents who died as a direct result of the 3/11 earthquake and tsunami.