JAPAN / Politics

Vast majority of ruling bloc candidates favor rebooting reactors

Protesters stage an anti-nuclear demonstration outside the Diet in Tokyo in March. Participants at the demonstration said they would never forget the March 11, 2011, nuclear disaster, the worst since Chernobyl. The placard, center, reads: 'No to restarting nuclear reactors!' | AP

Kyodo

Dec 1, 2014

A huge majority of those planning to run in the Dec. 14 Lower House election on the ticket of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party or its junior coalition ally, Komeito, favor restarting the nation's idled nuclear reactors, a Kyodo News poll showed Sunday.

A total of 90.7 percent of those eyeing a run on the LDP ticket and 79.4 percent of prospective Komeito candidates said they support the reboot of reactors, which generated around 30 percent of the country’s total electricity before the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. All of the nation’s 48 reactors are currently offline.

Among potential candidates from the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan, 72.2 percent were opposed to bringing reactors back online. Nearly 91 percent of those planning a run with the Japan Innovation Party, the Lower House's second-largest opposition, also opposed the restarts.

Vast majority of ruling bloc candidates favor rebooting reactors

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