I have watched the personality and behavior
of Chairperson Jaczko on TV since March 11, 2011 and I have told to my wife
that there is a respectable person involved in nuclear energy. Looking at the photo, I have found him really
beautiful – oh, I’m not talking about his head.
He emits very beautiful light, not
reflected light.
If you get to see through a person at first
sight, you will understand everything else very well.
Masatoshi
Takeshita
September
24, 2013
English translation of a Japanese article: Ryusaku Tanaka Journal – September 23, 2013 –
Former
Chairperson of NRC George Jaczko Ventures into Abandoning Nuclear Power
Generation
Mr. Jaczko who checks terminology with an
interpreter before a lecture
= on 23 at Chiyoda Ward Photograph: Shun Yamada =
Former Chairperson of Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) George Jaczko has come to Japan and given a lecture in Tokyo today.
Mr. Jaczko had tried to strengthen nuclear
regulation following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, which had him
isolated within the Commission. He
resigned as chairperson in May last year.
(According to Wikipedia and others)
Mr. Jaczko has never bent his principles as
he witnessed a harsh accident in the country to which the U.S. had sold nuclear
power plants. He gave a very
thought-provoking speech. (Remarks
indicated by boldface are given by Mr. Jaczko.)
Suprisingly, Mr. Jaczko made such remarks
that he ventured into abandoning nuclear power generation.
“Every
time I visit Japan, I am surprised at the spirit of the Japanese and technology.
I believe it is
possible to create energy source for the next generation and a new electric
power transmission system. That will
free us from the use of nuclear energy that requires expensive facilities. It will also free us
from the use of technology (nuclear power) that causes harsh accidents.”
Nuclear safety myth was not just limited to
Japan but we also had it in the United States that had experienced the Three
Mile Island nuclear power plant accident.
Japan, a client state, has also been infected with the myth.
“The
nuclear power industry says ‘All nuclear power plants are safe and no accident
will happen.’ If an accident happens,
they try to make an improvement.” “If an
accident happens, we will make a fuss about it.
We have to talk about nuclear power plants with understanding of a
possibility of nuclear accident.
Accident will happen at some future point.”
Former Chairperson of NRC George Jaczko
says: “Several nuclear power plants in the U.S. have been closed for a several
years due to safety problems.”
= Photography: Shun Yamada =
= Photography: Shun Yamada =
It seems that no lessons from the Three
Mile Island accident have been learned in Japan, where only the Chernobyl
accident has been in the news.
“The
Three Mile Island accident showed that evacuation planning was very
fragile. (And yet,) you didn’t learn the
important lesson (of the Three Mile Island accident) in Fukushima nuclear power
plants. Since no careful planning was
made beforehand, evacuation got extremely confused.”
“The
safety standards you have to develop following the Fukushima nuclear power
plant accident are not to produce any evacuees and not to contaminate the
environment outside power plant facilities.”
Additionally, the former chairperson
emphasized: “It is also important for citizens to lobby the Diet and the
government.”
In a Q and A session, this writer asked him: “What do you think about the Japanese government
that underestimates the contaminated water problem?” The former chairperson answered as follows:
“I am
afraid that the people might have been more concerned about TEPCO’s lack in
competence to cope with the problem. Why wasn’t the government engaged in it
earlier? The government
paid too much attention to resumption of the nuclear power plant.”
Mr. Jaczko might make a bold remark because
he is the “former” NRC chairperson. I
wonder what Japan Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka will
say about the Fukushima nuclear accident after retiring from office.
Mr. Jaczko will hold a lecture and press
interview in Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ) tomorrow on 24.
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