A September 16, 2016 Nikkei article demonstrates that anti-nuclear activism fails to address national security realities. The UK’s conditional approval of a Chinese-funded nuclear project highlights why nuclear energy, sovereignty, and security cannot be separated.

2016-09-16
The following article on page 7 of today’s Nikkei newspaper demonstrated that my arguments regarding the anti-nuclear movement were entirely correct.
However, I now find myself re-recognizing this with a sense of deep gloom, and the Japanese people must likewise re-recognize it.
That is to say, those who initiated the immediate and total shutdown of nuclear power plants and who continue even now to persistently carry out anti-nuclear—that is, anti-nuclear movements as described by the People’s Liberation Army—namely Naoto Kan, Masayoshi Son, Mizuho Fukushima, and the Asahi Shimbun, together with the so-called cultural figures who aligned themselves with them, and the so-called civic groups whose strong suspicion of being manipulated by Chinese government institutions such as the People’s Liberation Army and by South Korea’s CIA or FBI was clearly revealed in a paper published by Masaru Soma in the September 2016 issue of SAPIO, are such that anyone would think it is no exaggeration to call them traitors to the nation.
*Masaru Soma’s background. Born in 1956. Graduated from the Department of Chinese Language, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. After serving as a foreign affairs reporter for the Sankei Shimbun, Hong Kong bureau chief, and a Nieman Special Journalism Fellow at Harvard University, he left the company in 2010 to become a freelancer. He has authored many books, including People Erased by the Chinese Communist Party and The True Nature of Xi Jinping under the pen name Tsutomu Kayazawa, both published by Shogakukan. His recent work is Xi Jinping’s “Anti-Japan” Strategy, also published by Shogakukan.
The following is the Nikkei newspaper article. Emphasis within the text is mine.
The UK Approves a Chinese-Funded Nuclear Power Plant
Security Considerations, Measures to Put the Brakes on China
“London = Mariko Kotaki”
The British government announced on the 15th that it had approved a new nuclear power plant project in which China General Nuclear Power Group, a major state-owned Chinese nuclear power company, will invest. [Omitted]
What the British government approved was a nuclear power project at Hinkley Point in southwestern England, aiming to begin operation in 2025.
Two state-of-the-art European Pressurized Reactors (EPR) from the French nuclear giant Areva will be built, supplying 7 percent of the UK’s electricity demand.
Of the total project cost of 18 billion pounds (approximately 2.4 trillion yen), two-thirds will be funded by Électricité de France (EDF), with the remainder invested by Chinese entities including China General Nuclear Power Group. This will be the first nuclear power plant construction in the UK in about 20 years.
The Hinkley nuclear project was agreed upon last autumn when Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the UK, with former Prime Minister Cameron and Chinese companies participating.
It was a flagship project symbolizing close UK–China relations. However, after assuming office, Prime Minister May suddenly announced in late July that she would postpone construction approval, prompting strong opposition from the Chinese side.
[Omitted]
What Prime Minister May is most concerned about is said to be the Bradwell nuclear project in southeastern England, which was approved as a package together with Hinkley under the previous administration.
It is a plan to adopt Chinese-made nuclear reactors for the first time in an advanced country, and China intends to use this as a foothold to expand nuclear exports.
Prime Minister May has been wary of security risks since her time as Home Secretary.
By introducing a mechanism that allows the British government to intervene in changes of major shareholders, she put the brakes on the concentration of Chinese capital and technology in domestic nuclear power plants.
Although conditional, the background to the British government’s approval of China’s participation in nuclear power includes the reality that UK–China relations cannot be ignored.
With the UK preparing to leave the European Union, uncertainty over the future of the British economy is strong, and cooperation with China, the world’s second-largest economy, is indispensable.
Prime Minister May also appealed to President Xi at the G20 summit held in China in early September, saying she wanted to “continue the golden era of UK–China relations.”
Existing nuclear power plants in the UK are aging, and replacement demand is arriving all at once.
Amid fiscal difficulties, it is also necessary to encourage construction by foreign capital.
Japanese companies such as Hitachi and Toshiba have already received orders for nuclear power plant construction.
China General Nuclear Power Group announced on the 15th, “We are pleased that the UK government has approved the project. Together with EDF, we wish to provide environmentally friendly energy to the UK on a sustainable basis.”