Concerns grow in Japan over reactor safety tests

July 11, 2011 from Euronews

Japan's government has confirmed that the country's out-of-action nuclear reactors could be turned on again, if they pass post-Fukushima safety tests. But no timetable for the tests has been given. Ministers had announced last month that the plants were safe to open. Yukio Edano, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary said "This new set of standards is aimed at guaranteeing the safety of nuclear power generations and at gaining the trust of the general population in the safety of nuclear facilities."

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Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up... Explore this topic

Nuclear power

Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provided about 5.7% of the world's energy and 13% of the world's electricity, in 2012. In 2013, the IAEA report that there are 437 operational nuclear power reactors, i... Explore this topic

Japanese nuclear safety

Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission is a commission established within the Cabinet of Japan as an independent agency to play the main role in nuclear safety administration. Commissioners are appointed by the Prime Minister of Japan on Diet approval. The commission has stronger a... Explore this topic

Protest

An act of defiance or objection by an individual or group of people. Protests can take many forms: peaceful or violent, direct or indirect, large or small. Protests in the news are often political in nature, as groups of citizens voice their disagreement or dissatisfaction. Pr... Explore this topic

Tokyo

Tokyo ligger i Tokyoprefekturen i Kantōregionen på östra Honshū och är Japans huvudstad. Tokyoområdet, Stortokyo, är med sina 35,7 miljoner invånare världens folkrikaste storstadsområde. Administrativt försvann staden Tokyo redan 1943, men begreppet Tokyo används ofta om de 23... Explore this topic

Nuclear safety

Nuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials fo... Explore this topic

Yukio Edano

Yukio Edano is a Japanese politician of the Democratic Party of Japan and a member of the House of Representatives in the Diet. He was the Chief Cabinet Secretary in the Kan government. From 2011 to 2012, he served as Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Explore this topic

Nuclear and radiation accidents

A nuclear and radiation accident is defined by the International Atomic Energy Agency as "an event that has led to significant consequences to people, the environment or the facility." Examples include lethal effects to individuals, large radioactivity release to the environme... Explore this topic

Chief Cabinet Secretary

The Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan is a Minister of State who is responsible for directing the Cabinet Secretariat. The main function of the Chief Cabinet Secretary is to coordinate the policies of ministries and agencies in the executive branch. The Chief Cabinet Secretary ... Explore this topic

Nuclear reactor technology

A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for generating electricity and in propulsion of ships. Heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid, which runs through turbine... Explore this topic

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