17 April, 2016
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Mr. Motoo Hayashi
Chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority Mr. Shunichi Tanaka

Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan
Co-Representatives: SAKURAI Katsunobu (Mayor of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture)
MIKAMI Hajime (Mayor Kosai City, Shizuoka Prefecture)
MURAKAMI Tatsuya (Former Mayor Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture)
Secretary General: UEHARA Hiroko (Former Mayor Kunitachi City Tokyo

A request to approve a consent right on resumption of nuclear
reactors to be granted to the neighbouring municipalities that may
become victims of potential nuclear accidents
On a document dated 2nd March 2015, we, members of the “Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan” network,
requested the Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Mr. Yoichi Miyazawa (as of date) to “urgently
take measures such as either a revision of the law, or a Cabinet approval, to ensure that neighbouring municipalities
that have been mandated to draw up evacuation plans have consent rights and allow them sign a safety treaty so bepart of the agreement procedures.”
However, despite our request, the government, which remains to show no initiatives to seriously address this issue,approved the restart of nuclear reactors No. 3 and No. 4 of Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc. (KEPCO)'s Takahama
Nuclear Power Plant located at Fukui Prefecture. This approval was made despite the opposition by leaders ofKyoto and Shiga Prefectures which are both located 30km within the nuclear power plant.
As is widely known, Nuclear Emergency Response Guidance drawn after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident
mandated that not only the municipality hosting the nuclear power plant but also neighbouring municipalities
within 30km are required to draw “Nuclear Emergency Response Plan (an evacuation plan). Many of thosesurrounding municipalities have been bearing significant financial and human resource burdens for preparations
such as contingency planning, mechanism building and training. The Otsu District Court that issued an injunction
to halt Takahama reactors No.3 and No. 4 on 9 May this year also expressed in its statement that “it is necessary tourgently draw a visible and detailed evacuation plan led by the state rather than individual public authorities”,
criticising the central government for leaving local municipalities to come up with their own evacuation plans.
According to the Cabinet's decision approved on 10 September 2004, nuclear power plants can only be constructedunder the condition that the host municipalities (cities, towns, villages and prefectures) approve it. However, thisprinciple is considered disadvantageous for the host municipalities since they must bear the risks of nuclear
disasters as well as the responsibilities of designing disaster prevention measures.
If this principle is to be followed, we strongly believe that those neighbouring municipalities, which are also
mandated to come up with a Nuclear Emergency Response Plan and bear significant financial and human resource
burdens, should also be granted consent rights regarding the site and operation of nuclear power plants. Engaging
not only the host municipality that benefits from the operation of the power plant but also the neighboruing
municipalities into the restart procedures will keep an vigilant eye, from multiple perspectives, on the safety of thepower plant, contributing to a higher level of safety.
We believe that the government should clearly stipulate a law that grants not only the host municipality but alsoneighbouring municipalities the consent right regarding restarting a the reactor. A safety agreement between nuclear
operators and municipalities based on the consent right should be signed.
While the implementation such frameworks is lacking, we cannot approve resumption of nuclear power plants. In
addition, we believe that the government cannot gain support from many of the Japanese citizens. We urge thecentral government to address this issue seriously and to establish a legal consent right for neighbouringmunicipalities.