Japan's nuke plant-dependent town hushes nuke criticism

Ohi mayor Shinobu Tokioka wants the Japanese government to come up with a comprehensive set of safety standards and measures based on information from the Fukushima accident.

The governor of Fukui prefecture has also said that new safety standards are needed.

But the town of Ohi's 8,850 residents who depend heavily on the nuclear plant  are loath to speak out against nuclear power despite their worries.

Nuclear power plants are their sources of budget revenue and employment.

"You can't just convince people that this situation is dangerous. While that is certainly the case, in a region where its economy is up to its neck in nuclear power plants, we need a convincing vision for creating local employment," said Tetsuen Nakajima, a Buddhist monk in a neighbouring city who has been opposing nuclear power plants for more than four decades.

The 69-year-old monk suggested that the Wakasa area, home to 13 commercial reactors, should keep getting government subsidies while it tries to reduce its reliance on the nuclear plants and come up with solutions.

With a budget flush with nuclear subsidies, Ohi has built expensive facilities such as culture and recreation halls.

The town, which  hosts four of the nuclear reactors that dot the coast of Fukui prefecture, has become known as "Atomic Arcade" because it has more reactors than any other area in Japan.

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