Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan tells Germans that Fukushima crisis unresolved


Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan told German lawmakers on Tuesday that the Fukushima nuclear crisis remains unresolved, while also criticizing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government for its push to restart reactors.

“It remains a fact that the accident is going on,” said Kan, who was prime minister when the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant was crippled after a major quake and tsunami three years ago. “Despite that, the Liberal Democratic Party is trying to reboot many nuclear power plants.”

Addressing an audience including lawmakers of the Alliance 90/The Greens grouping in Berlin, Kan noted that the plant is still plagued with contaminated water problems and nearly 140,000 people from Fukushima Prefecture remain displaced.

Kan said no major disruption to people’s lives and the economy has been observed even though no reactors are currently operating in Japan.

Following the Fukushima disaster, Germany decided to shut down its nuclear reactors by the end of 2022. The Greens are against nuclear power generation.