Fukushima – Fewer Jobs?

Japan may have fired up its first nuclear reactor since the Fukushima Daiichi accident, but the debate over the restarts rumbles on. While safety issues and potential power shortages have dominated the debate so far, another less-discussed issue is the potential impact on employment of trying to keep most or all of the nation’s 50 reactors offline.Bloomberg NewsWorkers make preparations in front of the emergency operation center at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in February.Local communities hosting nuclear plants typically view them as a major source of employment. Toshie Igari, the head of the Tomioka town assembly in Fukushima Prefecture, said in April 2011 that as many as two in three people in the town would lose their jobs without the nearby nuclear plants.Local media also reported that the employment situation was one of the main concerns among residents near Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi nuclear plant in western Japan, during discussions with the government about restarting two of the reactors at the facility.Putting a precise figure on how many people are employed in the nuclear industry is difficult, however…

via Fukushima Watch: No Reactors, Fewer Jobs? – Japan Real Time – WSJ.