Pilot arrested after landing radioactive drone on prime minister's office

Cincinnati Sun Sunday 26th April, 2015

pilot arrested after landing radioactive drone on prime minister office

• Drone allegedly carrying small amount of radioactive sand

• Stunt was to protest government's nuclear policy

• Concerns about nuclear energy remain high following Fukushima incident

TOKYO, Japan - A Japanese man who piloted a drone carrying radioactive sand on to the roof of the Japanese prime minister's office has been arrested.

Tokyo police say 40-year-old Yasuo Yamamoto was protesting over the Japanese government's nuclear energy policy with the stunt and turned himself in late on Friday.

No-one was hurt in the incident, which occurred while Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was out of the country.

The drone landing triggered a major security alert and raised concerns of extremists using drones to carry out attacks on the government.

However, the small amount of sand in the drone, which was also equipped with a small camera, carried very low traces of radioactive matter, which was not enough to be harmful to human health.

Police said the radioactive material was likely to be caesium.

Japan does not yet regulate low-altitude drone flying, except around airports, but officials are increasingly looking into changing the law as the remote-controlled devices become more prevalent.

All 48 nuclear power plants in Japan were shut down after the tsunami and earthquake in March 2011, which wrecked the Fukushima power plant.

Before the earthquake, about 30% of Japan's power was nuclear-generated.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for a restart of the power plants, arguing that the shutdown has hurt the economy by forcing Japan to import expensive fossil fuels to make up the power shortfall.

Public anxiety about the safety of nuclear power remains high, however, and lawmakers have not yet given the go-ahead for any of the plants to be restarted.

Last week a Japanese court rejected an attempt by local residents to halt the restart of two nuclear reactors at the Sendai plant in Kagoshima prefecture.

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