April 15, 2013

Prospectus of the Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy (CCNE)

Two years have passed since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident occurred following the Great East Japan Earthquake. The melted-down reactors at theFukushima Daiichi plant remain far from being stabilized, and a large number of victims are still living in extreme conditions, kept from their homes and without any hopeof rehabilitating their lives. Currently only two reactors, Ohi Units 3 and 4 of Kansai
Electric Power Company (KEPCO), are in operation. These two reactors are scheduled
to shut down this summer for periodic inspections, thus bringing Japan again into a stateof zero nuclear power, i.e. a state of nuclear power moratorium.
Japanese nuclear energy policy is also under a virtual moratorium; the Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) of the Cabinet Office has effectively ceased to function since therevelation of secret meetings in which AEC disclosed a draft report on options for dealing with spent nuclear fuel to representatives of the nuclear industry, during the process
to revise the Government’s “Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy.” The Basic Energy
Plan formulated at the initiative of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry(METI) in 2010, has also lost its effect. Meanwhile, the “Innovative Energy and Environmental Strategy,” adopted by the Energy and Environment Council under the former
Democratic Party (DPJ) administration, set a target of “zero nuclear power in the2030s.” This Strategy should have replaced the Framework and the Basic Energy Plan,but it has not been invoked.
After taking power in December 2012, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-Komeito
coalition government revealed its intention of revising the former Basic Energy Planand reverting to the pre-Fukushima nuclear policy: reopening of most of the nuclear
power plants, completion of new nuclear plants under construction and in the planningstage, pursuit of the establishment of the nuclear fuel cycle, and export of nuclear power
plants.

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In response to the Fukushima nuclear accident, however, the great majority of the Japanese population now wants a “society free of nuclear power.” It is unlikely that the public would accept the return of a pro-nuclear policy, and allow its smooth implementation.
The Fukushima nuclear accident has made people of Japan and the world aware that ansevere accident like that of Chernobyl is not limited to special types of reactors in special types of countries, but that there are non-negligible real risks of severe accidents,
and that once such an accident occurs, it causes huge irreparable damage. Loss of control of nuclear energy is a situation that should never have been allowed to occur. The
only way for us to learn and draw lessons from this tragedy is to shift toward a phaseoutof nuclear power.
What is becoming important under these circumstances is to elaborate a realistic andethical public policy strategy for a nuclear power phaseout. We have little experience
with this kind of approach because most people considered it unlikely that a phaseout of
nuclear power could be realized under the conventional political and administrativesystem. However, the situation has significantly changed as a result of the Fukushima
accident. Now that the majority of the Japanese citizens declare themselves in favor of a
nuclear phaseout, putting a concrete path to achieve that goal has became a real challenge.
Based on the above rationale and needs, we decided to establish “Citizens’ Commission
on Nuclear Energy (CCNE)” as an expert organization. Its objective is to compile andpropose a tangible1 public policy to achieve a society free of nuclear power2, an alternative to counter those set forth by AEC and other governmental nuclear-related organizations (Nuclear Regulation Authority, Advisory Committee for Natural Resources andEnergy in METI, Reconstruction Agency, etc.), as well as to make the outcomes of its
research activities available to the general public. We expect CCNE to operate for atleast 5 years, preferably for more than 10 years.
1“Tangible” means here carrying out cool-headed objective analyses and assessments ofboth benefits and side-effects of the new public policy.

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By “society free of nuclear power” we mean a society which not only abandons nuclear
power generation, but also deals wisely with the associated negative legacy.

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We consider the AEC as an organization in which pro-nuclear interest groups planned,
deliberated and decided Japan’s nuclear energy policy for the sake of pro-nuclear interest groups. CCNE is a clear contrast with AEC in that CCNE plans, deliberates, andmakes proposals on nuclear energy policy from the standpoint of the public interests ofcitizens.
CCNE aims to organize a forum in which a wide range of participants wishing for aphaseout of nuclear power exchange views and information, report progress and research results, and compile policy recommendations towards a nuclear power phaseout
based on the outcome of the forum. In the initial stage, many of the forum participants
may comprise determined anti-nuclear activists and experienced nuclear phaseout advocates, but we would like to welcome a wide spectrum of people who sympathize withthe idea of a nuclear power phaseout after the Fukushima accident. The only condition
for participation is to share a willingness to contribute to profoundly changing Japan’s
nuclear energy policy3.
AEC has established the “Framework for Nuclear Energy Policy” as Japan’s most basic
nuclear policy reference document. It also issues occasional opinions and announcements on specific matters and has several specialized sub-committees, each of which
publishes reports on the subject it covers.
CCNE wants to compile and publish policy recommendations to counter those issued byAEC. A “Framework for Nuclear Energy Phaseout Policy” will be CCNE’s main publication. We hope to publish the first version of the Framework around the first anniversary and intend to revise it each year. For issues on which consensus among participantscannot be achieved, multiple options will be included side by side and the advantages
and disadvantages of each identified so that citizens can choose the options they have.
CCNE intends to issue detailed reports on specific subjects of high importance whenever occasion arises. It will also publish as needed opinions and statements on matters ofgreat urgency. In addition, it plans to provide information and expertise in response torequests from organizations, groups and individuals involved in nuclear public policy to
3Participants join the forum in their individual capacity, not as representatives of organizations.

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act as an “independent think-tank for nuclear phaseout policy.”
The “Framework for Nuclear Energy Phaseout Policy” is intended to function as a“Basic Plan for Nuclear Power Phaseout,” an executive plan to achieve the general objectives stipulated in a “Basic Law on Nuclear Power Phaseout,” after such a law is enacted. The biggest feature of CCNE’s Framework will be to incorporate measures forsupporting all the victims and affected areas of the Fukushima nuclear accident. TheFramework is intended for central and local government officials, Diet members, political parties, mass media and journalists, as well as the general public with an interest innuclear issues. In order to reach a wide audience among younger generations, theFramework must be written in easy to understand language.
CCNE was founded as a special project of the Takagi Fund for Citizen Science (TakagiFund), an certified NPO, and will operate mainly with the financial support of the fund.
As for the circumstances and significance of Takagi Fund addressing this project, pleaserefer to the attached document.
A nuclear phaseout cannot be achieved in a short space of time. In Germany, it took 11years for the Schröder and Merkel administrations to actually shut down nuclear reactors after the agreement in 2000 of the “Nuclear Phaseout Law”. During that time, there
was much toing and froing. Similar progress will be unavoidable in Japan. A nuclear
power phaseout will inevitably cause some pain. Even after we agree to abolish nuclear
facilities, we will still have to continue to pay for redressing the negative legacy of nuclear power for a very long time. Nevertheless, by initiating a path towards a nuclear
phaseout, we will be able to hand over a better future to our descendants. We hope all
those who share our wish for a Japan free of nuclear power will join us.

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