Local government official changes mind and refuses to let nuclear plant in his town operate

Genkai mayor retracts plant restart consent

The mayor of Genkai Town in southwestern Japan has retracted his approval for the restart of 2 reactors at a nuclear power plant in his town.

Mayor Hideo Kishimoto on Thursday informed the decision to President Toshio Manabe of Kyushu Electric Power Company which operates Genkai plant. Kishimoto conveyed his retraction to Manabe by phone after the town assembly approved his decision.

On Monday the mayor informed the utility of his approval for the restart of the 2 reactors that remain idle after routine safety checks were completed in April.

But the mayor changed his position after the central government announcement on Wednesday that it will conduct an additional "stress test" at all nuclear reactors in Japan to ensure safety.

At a ...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/07_28.html

I've heard you can radiation standing too close to an electrical outlet, since there is a bunch of radioactive electricity inside the outlet.

One test you can do at home is put your hand close to the outlet. If you feel a slight breeze coming from the outlet then your electricity comes from a wind generator and is safe to use.

Of course hydroelectric power doesn't actually spray water out of the outlet, but it can raise the humidity of the room significantly.

And if you smell gas, even if your home is not hooked up to the gas lines, call the gas company anyway. There may be a leak at the generator plant in which case you're getting electricity that's been tainted with gas fumes.

If all these tests fail, place your hand over the outlet and hold it there for a few hours. When you lift your hand off the outlet check to see if there's any sign of sunburn in the shape of the three holes in the outlet. If so, then your electricity comes from solar and is, again, safe to use.

:sarcasm:

Tip: if the point of the sarcasm is denying the consequences of core meltdowns breaching containment and bringing an entire nation to its knees, then you are in a very peculiar world of your own making.

This is the Manabe dude who's supposed to resign due to the disgusting ethicals scandal recently reported.

You'd think the maybe would retract his approval after the ethics crap came out, not because the central gov says there are more tests to be performed...