Japanese synod calls for an end to nuclear power: Church of England Newspaper, July 8, 2012, p 6.

The Fukushima reactor venting steam following the 11 March 2011 earthquake

Nuclear power is un-Christian and must be banned, the Nippon Sei Ko Kai said last month in a statement adopted by delegates to their 59^th meeting of General Synod.

In a statement dated 23 May 2012 the NSKK – the Anglican Church in Japan – said Japan’s experiences in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant meltdown had shown the risks outweighed the benefits of nuclear power.  “It is not too much to say this is a warning from God to each of us who, having suffered from nuclear bombings, have failed to acquire sufficient knowledge about nuclear power and exposure to radiation,” the statement said.

Approximately 30 per cent of Japan’s electrical power was generated by a network of nuclear power plants before the 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.  After the cooling systems failed a nuclear emergency was declared at the Fukushima power plant and 140,000 residents within 20 kilometers m of the plant were evacuated after radiation leaked from the reactor.

Public concerns over the safety of nuclear power in earthquake-prone Japan led to calls for the closure of the country’s 54 reactors.  After almost two months without nuclear power in Japan Unit 3 of the Oi Nuclear Power Plant was restarted on 1 July 2012 – making it Japan’s only functioning nuclear power station.

The government has asked residents and businesses to cut consumption of electricity by between five and 15 per cent on summer 2010 levels this summer.  The reductions are voluntary and there is no penalty for individual consumers and businesses that do not meet them, but the government has said it will order rolling blackouts if demand reaches 99 per cent of supply.

In its statement the NSKK said that even “without accidents, nuclear power is a real threat to people’s lives in that it imposes sacrifices on socially weakened people throughout the process, from the mining of uranium to the disposal of radioactive waste. It also runs counter to the teachings of Jesus Christ as it cannot be sustained without people’s sacrifices.”

The synod adopted a three point statement saying “Nuclear Power Endangers the Life Created by God; Nuclear Power Destroys the Nature Created by God;  Nuclear Power Deprives People of the Peaceful Life Given by God” and called “For a World Without Nuclear Power Plants.”

“As Christians following Jesus Christ, we must speak publicly against nuclear power,” the synod said.

They called upon the government to close all Japan’s nuclear power plants and for a “conversion of Japan’s energy policy toward the development of alternative sources of energy.”

A government white paper on energy had recommended Japan wean its self from its reliance on nuclear power, and the government had suspended restarting the country’s working reactors as it reviewed its options.

But on June 16, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda authorized the restart of two reactors at the Oi plant amid warnings that the existing alternative sources of power generation could not support Japanese industry, leading to massive economic dislocation.

Read it all in The Church of England Newspaper.

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