Japan Institute for National Fundamentals
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Speaking out

Tadashi Narabayashi

【#834】Guessing About Kono’s Intimidating Remarks

Tadashi Narabayashi ／ 2021.09.29 (Wed)


September 27, 2021

　
In intimidating remarks to a senior official at the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy as reported by Weekly Bunshun magazine, administrative reform minister Taro Kono loudly asserted that nuclear power plants, if coming under North Korean missile attacks, would be dangerous. Kono, when serving as defense minister last year, took initiative in cancelling plans to build ground-based Aegis Ashore missile defense systems to intercept incoming missiles. I guess that he might have buried the plans in a bid to expose nuclear power plants to the danger of missile attacks, leading to the abolishment of these plants.

“What would you do if North Korea fires missiles?”

Following is excerpt of conversation between Kono and the senior official as reported by Bunshun Online:

――――
Senior official: (Renewable energy’s share of a target power generation mix in the draft Strategic Energy Plan) is around 36-38% (based on the accumulation of policy measures).

Kono: If so, the share should be given as 36-38% or more (rather than around 36-38%). Call anyone who can understand Japanese language.

Kono: I don’t know why the draft Strategic Energy Plan included many descriptions to the effect that it would be unfavorable for Japan to spread renewable energy. You dropped them, didn’t you?

Senior official: The descriptions represented facts about natural conditions into which Japan has been put.

Kono: If so, you should write that nuclear power plants are vulnerable to North Korean missile attacks. Japan is too small to have sites for disposing spent nuclear fuel. You should write all these facts.

Kono: It is obvious that spent nuclear fuel is dangerous. What would you do if North Korea fires missiles to nuclear power plants? What would you do if these plants come under terrorist attacks?
――――

In their well-known cliché, nuclear power plant opponents fan fear that nuclear plants, if coming under direct missile attacks, would become dangerous with radioactive contamination spreading. Kono shares the idea with nuclear plant opponents. Shunichi Tanaka, when serving as Nuclear Regulation Authority chairman, told Parliament that nuclear missiles would cause far more damage by exploding over large cities than attacking nuclear power plants with surgical precision.

Nuclear plants in operation have underground facilities that prevent radioactive materials from leaking in case of aircraft-using terrorist attacks. The Japan Institute for National Fundamentals has further proposed that offshore windmills and wire fences be installed at nuclear power plants. Missiles would explode and be destroyed if touching these objects before directly hitting nuclear plants.

Kono’s brother producing solar panel components

I would like to respond to Kono’s intimidating remarks politely:

“You cancelled the Aegis Ashore deployment plan. What would you do if North Korea fires missiles at Japan? You branded attacks on enemy missile bases as the idea of the Showa Era (that ended in 1989). Capabilities to attack enemy bases are required because you made it impossible for Japan to intercept missiles.

If Japan discontinues to reprocess spent nuclear fuel as you have proposed, it may have no choice but to put spent fuel into metal casks and bury them underground. But this would quadruple nuclear waste volume, making it difficult for Japan to dispose nuclear waste.

Why do you pressure the government to raise renewable energy’s share of the future power generation mix? Is this because the higher renewable energy share would help increase sales from a solar panel component factory in China owned by a company headed by your younger brother?”

Tadashi Narabayashi is a specially appointed professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and a director at the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals.