﻿ Long-quiet Japanese debate on A-bomb resurfaces - Taipei Times
Wed, Aug 01, 2012 - Page 6　News List  Long-quiet Japanese debate
on A-bomb resurfaces  NUKE PLANTS:A growing chorus of voices are
linking the nation’s nuclear power plants to its ability to
build an arsenal of nuclear weapons quickly if it ever wanted to
A contentious debate over nuclear power in Japan is also
bringing another question out of the shadows: Should Japan keep
open the possibility of making nuclear weapons — even if only as
an option?  It may seem surprising in the only country ever
devastated by atomic bombs, particularly as it marks the 67th
anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki
three days later. The Japanese government has officially
renounced nuclear weapons, and the vast majority of citizens
oppose them.    “Having nuclear plants shows to other nations
that Japan can make nuclear weapons,” said former Japanese
minister of defense Shigeru Ishiba, now an opposition lawmaker.
Ishiba said that Japan is