原発事故から５年 許されぬ安全神話の復活

--The Asahi Shimbun, March 10
EDITORIAL: Despite utilities’ attempts, nuclear safety myth can never be revived
（社説）原発事故から５年　許されぬ安全神話の復活

Japan should become a society that is not dependent on nuclear power generation as quickly as possible.
　できるだけ早く原子力発電に頼らない社会を実現すべきだ。

Five years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami devastated wide areas in the northeastern Tohoku region on March 11, 2011, triggering the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
　東日本大震災と福島第一原発の事故が起きてから、明日で５年になる。

Our editorials will continue arguing for a nuclear-free future for Japanese society.
私たちは社説で改めて、「原発ゼロ社会」の実現を訴えていく。

The Otsu District Court in Shiga Prefecture on March 9 issued an injunction against the operation of two reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture. The court told the utility to immediately shut down the No. 3 reactor at the plant and keep the No. 4 unit off-line. Both reactors were restarted earlier this year, but a malfunction automatically shut down the No. 4 unit on Feb. 29.
　大津地裁はきのう、関西電力高浜３、４号機（福井県）の運転を差し止める仮処分決定を出した。

It was the first time for a Japanese court to order a halt to an online nuclear reactor.
稼働中の原発を司法が止めるのは初めてのことだ。

The Abe administration can hardly claim that its policy decisions concerning nuclear power generation have been solidly based on lessons learned from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
　安倍政権は、福島の原発事故の教訓をできる限り生かしたとは到底言えない。

Rather, the administration has been trying to revive the nuclear power policy that was in place before the disaster and restart as many reactors as possible.
原発政策を震災前に押し戻し、再稼働へ突き進もうとしている。

The court decision echoes public anxiety about the government’s move to gradually regain Japan’s nuclear capacity without serious public debate on the issue.
　今回の地裁の判断は、なし崩しの再稼働に対する国民の不安に沿ったものでもある。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government should sincerely respond to the important social changes caused by the triple meltdown and take steps toward a major shift in energy policy.
安倍政権は、原発事故がもたらした社会の変化に真摯（しんし）に向き合い、エネルギー政策の大きな転換へと動くべきである。

MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT NEW SAFETY STANDARDS
　■新基準にも疑問

As for the Takahama plant, the Fukui District Court issued an injunction against plans to restart the two reactors in April last year.
　高浜をめぐっては昨年４月にも福井地裁が再稼働を禁じる仮処分決定を出した。

Although another judge at the district court repealed the injunction eight months later, the fact remains that the judiciary has twice denied the safety of reactors that passed the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s stricter safety standards introduced after the Fukushima disaster.
　約８カ月後に別の裁判長が取り消したとはいえ、原子力規制委員会が「新規制基準に適合している」と判断した原発の安全性が２度にわたり否定された。

When the Fukui District Court in April rejected the restarts of the reactors, proponents of nuclear power generation played down the importance of the order, saying it was “an exceptional decision by an exceptional judge.”
After the Otsu District Court’s injunction, however, this argument no longer holds water.
　昨年４月の際、原発推進の立場からは「特異な裁判長による特異な判断」との批判もあったが、もはやそんなとらえ方をするわけにはいかない。

Looking back on the harrowing accident in Fukushima Prefecture, the district court pointed out that a severe nuclear accident could cause environmental destruction beyond national borders. It is hard to assert that efficiency in power generation should be pursued even at the risk of devastating disasters, the court maintained.
　今回の決定は、事故を振り返り、環境破壊は国を超える可能性さえあるとし、「単に発電の効率性をもって、甚大な災禍とひきかえにすべきだとは言い難い」と述べた。

The court also contended that the NRA and Kansai Electric have made insufficient efforts to pinpoint the causes of the Fukushima accident.
　そのうえで事故原因の究明について関電や規制委の姿勢は不十分と批判。

The NRA’s endorsement of the safety of a reactor cannot be seen as a base for a sense of security within society, the court said.
規制委の許可がただちに社会の安心の基礎となるとは考えられないと断じた。

The court’s decision that meeting the new regulatory standards alone does not necessarily ensure the safety of a reactor has huge implications.
　新たな規制基準を満たしたとしても、それだけで原発の安全性が確保されるわけではない。その司法判断の意味は重い。

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga has said the Abe administration remains committed to promoting reactor restarts in line with the NRA’s judgments.
　安倍政権は「規制委の判断を尊重して再稼働を進める方針に変わりない」（菅官房長官）としている。

But the administration should carefully consider the significance of the fact that the judiciary has raised fundamental questions about the entire system of post-Fukushima nuclear safety regulation.
だが、事故後の安全規制の仕組み全般について、司法が根源的な疑問を呈した意味をよく考えるべきだ。

EVACUATION PLANS IN DOUBT
　■問われる避難計画

An Asahi Shimbun editorial published in July 2011 called for the creation of a society without nuclear power.
　朝日新聞は２０１１年７月に社説で「原発ゼロ社会」を提言した。

While supporting the temporary operation of the minimum number of reactors that are absolutely needed to meet electricity demand, the editorial proposed that nuclear power generation should be phased out in two to three decades by decommissioning dangerous and aging reactors.
当面どうしても必要な原発の稼働は認めるものの、危険度の高い原発や古い原発から閉めて２０～３０年後をめどにすべて廃炉にするという考えだ。

In fact, all nuclear reactors in Japan were off-line for about two years and one month over the past five years. No serious power crunches or economic upheavals took place during the period, disproving initial warnings about such possibilities.
The experiences during the period have shown that the number of “absolutely necessary nuclear reactors” is not that many. This lends weight to the argument that strict conditions must be met for restarting a reactor.
　実際にはこの５年のうち約２年１カ月は国内の原発がすべて止まっていた。当初心配された深刻な電力不足や経済の大混乱は起きず、「どうしても必要な原発」はさほど多くないことがわかった。再稼働の条件は厳しく設定すべきである。

A growing number of Japanese are calling for the immediate shutdown of all reactors or a steady reduction in Japan’s dependence on nuclear energy. An Asahi Shimbun public opinion poll in February confirmed this trend; a majority of respondents voiced opposition to reactor restarts.
　原発の即時全面停止や依存度低減といった脱原発を求める世論が高まり、先月の朝日新聞の世論調査でも過半数が再稼働に反対している。

The Abe administration initially pledged to lower the nation’s dependence on nuclear power over time. But it has gradually ratcheted up its rhetoric in promoting nuclear power generation through remarks that appear designed to create a new “nuclear safety myth.”
　安倍政権は当初は「原発依存度の低減」を掲げたが、徐々に新たな「安全神話」を思わせる言動が目立っている。

In his 2013 speech supporting Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics, Abe told the world that the situation concerning radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant was “under control.”
　安倍首相は１３年、東京五輪招致で原発の汚染水状況を「アンダーコントロール（管理下にある）」と世界にアピールした。

He has also contended in the Diet that the NRA’s new safety standards were “the strictest in the world.”
規制委の新基準についても国会で「世界一厳しい」と持ち上げた。

But the Otsu District Court’s decision adjudged the standards as insufficient for giving the green light to a reactor restart.
だが、今回の地裁決定は、その基準も再稼働の十分条件ではないとの判断を示した。

In addition, there have been serious concerns about the lack of effective and reliable plans for emergency evacuations during severe nuclear accidents.
　さらに避難計画の不備はかねて懸念の的だった。

The new safety standards do not cover evacuation plans, and the NRA does not examine such plans when it evaluates the safety of a reactor.
新基準に避難計画は入っておらず、規制委の審査対象になっていない。

In the case of the Takahama plant, a severe nuclear accident would force about 180,000 residents in Fukui, Kyoto and Shiga prefectures to evacuate. But no drill to ascertain the viability of evacuation plans was conducted before the two reactors resumed operations.
　高浜の場合、福井、京都、滋賀の３府県にまたがる約１８万人が避難を余儀なくされるが、再稼働前に計画の実効性を確かめる訓練も実施されなかった。

The court referred to the government’s “obligation to develop regulatory standards from a broad perspective that also covers the need of evacuation plans.” The government should immediately respond to this proposition.
　地裁は「避難計画をも視野に入れた幅広い規制基準をつくる義務が国家にあるのではないか」と投げかけた。政府がただちに答えるべき問いだ。

NUCLEAR POWER OF GREAT PUBLIC CONCERN
　■国民の重大な関心事

Despite the enormous scale of damage caused by the Fukushima accident, the responsibility of those who had championed nuclear power generation has yet to be clarified.
　あれだけの事故でありながら原発を推進してきた人たちの責任は明らかになっていない。

As the Otsu District Court pointed out, the Japanese public who watched the disaster unfold at the Fukushima No. 1 plant understand the “overwhelming scope” of the damages caused by the accident as well as the “great confusion” that arose during the evacuation process.
　大津地裁が言う通り、原発事故を経験した国民は事故の影響の範囲について、「圧倒的な広さとその避難に大きな混乱が生じたことを知悉（ちしつ）している」。

Yet both the government and electric utilities are working in tandem to restart reactors as if they have forgotten what happened five years ago.
　にもかかわらず、政府と電力会社は事故を忘れたかのように再稼働へ足並みをそろえる。

Some revelations have cast serious doubt about utilities’ commitment to learning lessons from the accident and putting the top priority on safety.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the stricken Fukushima plant, recently “discovered” a guideline in its operational manual that would have allowed it to announce core meltdowns much earlier than it did.
Kyushu Electric Power Co. has asked for the NRA’s permission to withdraw a plan to build a quake-proof building that can serve as an on-site response center during a severe nuclear accident. The company promised to build the emergency facility at its Sendai nuclear power plant before it restarted two reactors at the plant last year.
　東京電力が炉心溶融の判定基準を今ごろ「発見」したり、九州電力が川内（せんだい）原発の再稼働前に約束していた免震重要棟の建設を撤回したりと、事業者の反省、安全優先の徹底は怪しい。

These episodes raise suspicions that the utilities are returning to their pre-disaster practice of cunningly using experts to make key decisions about their nuclear power operations within the close-knit pro-nuclear community.
　専門家をうまく使い、事故前のように仲間内で決めようとしているのか。疑念が膨らむ。

Many issues concerning nuclear power policy are too complicated and arcane for ordinary citizens to easily understand. But the Fukushima nuclear crisis has reminded Japanese that nuclear power generation is an issue that is directly linked to their livelihoods and lifestyle choices.
　原子力政策は難解だが、原発は、人びとの暮らし方、生き方の選択と直結した問題であることを事故は思い起こさせた。

No matter how hard they try to revive the safety myth about nuclear power, government policymakers and members of the “nuclear village,” the closed and small community of people and organizations with vested interests in promoting nuclear power, will never be able to bring the nation back to the days before the Fukushima disaster.
　政権と少数の「原発ムラ」関係者たちが、いくら安全神話を復活させようとしても、事故前に戻ることはできない。

Nuclear power generation has already become a familiar issue and a matter of serious concern to the great majority of Japanese.
原発はすでに大多数の国民の、身近で重大な関心事なのである。