Nobel-winner Oe: Japan should follow Germany, quit nuclear
Workers take a break at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma town in Fukushima prefecture. AFP FILE PHOTO
TOKYO — Nobel-winning author Kenzaburo Oe says Japan’s push to restart some nuclear reactors following the Fukushima disaster could lead to another crisis, and has urged Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to follow Germany’s example and phase out atomic energy.
Oe’s remarks to reporters Tuesday come a day after visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she decided to end the use of nuclear energy by 2022 because the Fukushima crisis convinced her of its risks. Abe has said Japan still needs nuclear power as a stable energy source.
The Fukushima plant suffered meltdowns following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, spreading radiation outside the compound and forcing more than 100,000 people to relocate.
The 80-year-old Oe says his last work in life will be to keep sending messages to achieve a nuclear-free world.
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