The Miyagi Prefectural Assembly has adopted a petition seeking the restart of the No. 2 reactor at Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear plant in the prefecture.The petition was approved by a majority vote at a plenary meeting of the assembly on Thursday.
It is now highly likely that Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai will agree to resuming operation of the reactor at the nuclear plant, which straddles the city of Ishinomaki and the town of Onagawa, as the governor has said he plans to respect the will of the prefectural assembly.
The municipal assemblies of Ishinomaki and Onagawa have already approved the reactor’s restart.
At Thursday’s prefectural assembly meeting, the petition submitted by the commerce and industry association in Onagawa was approved by 35 members and rejected by 19 members.
Meanwhile, a petition opposing the proposed restart, submitted by 53 organizations, including civic groups, in their joint names, was voted down, securing the support of only 19 members.
After the meeting, Murai said, “This is the first time that an assembly of a tsunami-afflicted prefecture that hosts a nuclear power plant has approved a reactor restart.
“I take the judgment seriously,” Murai added. Miyagi is one of the prefectures that were severely affected by the March 2011 tsunami.
The governor plans to hear opinions on the proposed restart at a meeting of heads of municipalities in the prefecture in November, and make his judgment after having discussions with the mayors of Ishinomaki and Onagawa.
Fukushima 311 Watchdogs 