Kan's Hamaoka request abrupt, poorly explained
Chubu Electric Power Co. decided Monday to completely suspend the operation of the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, as requested by Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday.
The plant is located in the center of the expected focal zone of a magnitude-8 earthquake in the Tokai region that scientists are predicting. They say there is an 87 percent of chance of such a quake occurring within the next 30 years. The plant is also close to major national transportation arteries--the Tokaido Shinkansen line and the Tomei Expressway.
The decision was deemed necessary because a major accident at the plant in the wake of a major earthquake and tsunami, as occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, would be very serious.
Yet Kan's request came too abruptly, with no prior coordination among parties concerned.
In spite of the fact that Kan introduced a de facto policy that would affect the future of nuclear power plants--a central pillar of the nation's energy strategy--no formal decisions have been made by the government on the issue.
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Decision difficult for company
Being a private firm and therefore responsible to many others, including shareholders, the utility must have had a hard time deciding what to do about Kan's call, which was merely an administrative request.
It must have been a bitter decision for Chubu Electric to make as it accepted the request only after holding two rounds of extraordinary board meetings.
It can be said that Kan's request also left a major problem behind, when viewed in the context of an administration led by politicians.
The Hamaoka plant has five reactors. Of the five, the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors are already scheduled to be decommissioned, while the operation of the No. 3 reactor has been suspended for a regular inspection. Only the Nos. 4 and 5 reactors are currently operating.
The biggest concern for Chubu Electric when deciding to accept the request was how it could meet high demand in summer if it suspended the operation of its reactors.
The combined output of the Nos. 3, 4 and 5 reactors is 3.6 million kilowatts. Without the output from these units, its supply capacity will fall to a level that can barely meet the high summer demand.
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Thermal power only option
To prevent power outages, Chubu Electric must take such measures as boosting its thermal power generation. It is therefore quite reasonable that it accepted the request for suspension only after considering how it could secure enough fuel to increase thermal power output.
There are other problematic aspects of Kan's request. As his original request did not refer to the period of the suspension, Chubu Electric was deeply concerned about the likelihood that it would end up being forced to decommission the whole plant.
Concerns also spread among other electric power companies that they would eventually be asked by the government to suspend the operation of their nuclear plants.
The flustered government explained to Chubu Electric that the suspension would last for two to three years, by which time new measures for the plant to deal with a major earthquake and tsunami will have been completed.
Prime Minister Kan also said Hamaoka's case was exceptional, and he later denied any similar requests would be made of other nuclear power plants. It cannot be denied that Kan's request was made without sufficient explanations. He should seriously reflect on the way he made his request to Chubu Electric.
Time to form new relations between central, local govts
Recent Diet passage of three bills promoting the decentralization of power should serve as the first step toward establishing a new relationship between the central and local governments based on the basic spirit that "local governments decide on their own about matters that affect them."
The three bills, which were finally approved by the Diet late last month, call for expanding the administrative powers of local governments. The bills were first submitted to an ordinary session of the Diet last year, but were left pending until the current ordinary Diet session.
This time, the government revised the bills by deleting the term "regional sovereignty" from their provisions. The revision was a nod to the Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties that asserted "regional sovereignty's relationship with the sovereignty of the people, stipulated by the Constitution, is not defined clearly [in the bills]."
Leaving untouched the bills that uphold regional sovereignty could have invited considerable misunderstanding. It is reasonable that the government agreed to revise the bills. In fact, the revision should have been made much sooner.
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Joint forum legalized
One pillar of the three laws is the establishment of a forum for consultations between the central and local governments. The laws include a provision that "the results of consultations should be respected."
The National Governors' Association (NGA) and other entities had long called for enshrining such a forum into law. There had been opportunities for talks between the central and local governments, but there were no clear rules for reflecting local opinions in state policies.
The chief cabinet secretary, the internal affairs and communications minister and the finance minister, among others, will represent the state at this new forum, and six regional organizations, including the NGA, will represent local interests. The forum will be held as required.
Still unanswered is how convincingly local governments can get their points across and to what extent the state will accept their opinions. It is no good if the forum ends up being simply an opportunity for petition.
Another pillar is review of the system under which local governments are obliged to follow rules and restrictions set by the state that have limited their freedom of policy choice.
The new law empowers local governments to set their own standards, for example, for building public housing and roads by enforcing ordinances to replace criteria set by the state.
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No need for uniform rules
There is no need to adopt uniform standards across the country. Tailoring standards to meet regional needs will enhance efficiency and public convenience.
It would be possible for local governments in urban areas to give priority to cutting waiting lists for day care centers, and to implement this policy by trimming the amount of room space needed per child.
The three laws are just part of the menu for promotion of the decentralization of power. Realization of such drastic reforms as the transfer of power exercised by the central government's regional offices to local governments--which are supposed to be the central goal of the reform--has made little headway.
At the end of April, the NGA started its new leadership under Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada.
Yamada suggested the first subject the association should tackle was providing support to areas devastated by the March 11 disaster. The NGA should listen to the requests of affected local governments and offer constructive suggestions by making optimal use of its consultations with the central government.
As their share of power increases, local governments will play more roles. Yamada must display leadership so local governments can fulfill their responsibility with the promotion of the decentralization of power.
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