CRI听力:Japan to Restart Sendai Reactor Despite Protests

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government has been pushing to bring some reactors back online, arguing they are key to economic growth.

Chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga says the act is important for Japan's energy strategy.

"We believe it is important for our energy strategy that nuclear plants that have been deemed safe are to be restarted."

But opinion polls show a consistent majority oppose the restart.

Hundreds of local residents have protested in front of the nuclear reactor over the weekend and on Monday.

Former Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, joined protesters and called for halting the plan.

"Please bear with it and halt the nuclear restart project, this is what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe should really be saying to Kyushu Electric. Don't you agree?"

Locals in Satsumasendai are worried about safety issues and questioning whether any lessons have been learnt from Fukushima.

Ryoko Torihara , who lives 12 kilometres away from the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant, is head of a local anti-nuclear group.

"They haven't learnt from Chernobyl. They haven't learned from Fukushima. I wonder what this situation is."

She says evacuation routes remain unclear to locals, many who are elderly, and that officials lack the willingness to help.

Local media have pointed out that many of the city's bridges are old, raising concern whether they may be able to withstand a major earthquake.

The former chairman of an independent investigation committee into the Fukushima nuclear, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, says the government needs to be more transparent in order to regain the nation's trust.

"Japan is an advanced country, why don't you make this thing (invite) every expert, invite everybody to come, with the inspection why don't you do that? That is the problem. Now it's already four years, have they been doing it? They have some advisers, and this and that, but visibly they are doing it? That kind of demonstration is a very important element in regaining the trust of the local people and the public at large."

All of Japan's more than 40 reactors are currently offline for repairs or safety inspections.

An earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant, sparking triple nuclear meltdowns, contaminating water, food and air and forcing more than 160,000 residents to flee in the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

For CRI, I'm Guo Yan.