10/3/2011 Pronuclear Iwanai mayor re-elected

Source: The Japan Times
Date: Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011 JST

Kyodo

SAPPORO — The mayor of Iwanai, Hokkaido, was re-elected Sunday in a landslide victory over an antinuclear challenger who opposed his plans to restart two local nuclear reactors.

Yuji Kamioka, 61, secured a third four-year term after pledging stricter oversight of Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari nuclear plant, defeating former town assembly member Miyuki Oishi, 63, who had called for a referendum on restarting the reactors.

Iwanai is 10 km from the nuclear power plant.

Voter turnout was 56.42 percent, with Kamioka drawing 5,167 votes and Oishi managing just 1,658.

The election came a week after one in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in which the mayor was re-elected over an antinuclear challenger who opposed Chugoku Electric Power Co.'s plan to build a nuclear power plant there.

Editor's Note: Below is a map showing the Tomari Nuclear Power Plant mentioned above.

View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map