Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO To start, I have two items to report to you. The first of these is something I would particularly like to request of the people of Japan.

In the aftermath of this massive earthquake, the situation has worsened seriously regarding gasoline, diesel, heavy oil, and other types of fuel. During this period we have been making every effort to clear away problems in the last stages of distribution lines, where things have not always gone smoothly, in order to secure a supply of these fuels and get them to the afflicted regions.

At the same time, I must ask all the people of Japan-noting that we are not in an immediately strained situation, and that we are in the midst of the process of sending needed supplies to the region from various places, all at once-to refrain from acts like hoarding of these fuels.

We are working on a nationwide basis and receiving foreign cooperation as we secure reliable supplies of fuel. As much as possible, we want to prioritize deliveries to the areas where the fuel has yet to reach, though, and we ask for the cooperation of people in regions that have not been afflicted by the disaster in not rushing to stock up on these fuels like gasoline, diesel, and heavy oil. We have received offers from various nations to help us to secure the amounts needed at the national level, so there are no problems in this respect. I urge you to please cooperate.

Next, on the subject of the nuclear plant, as has already been reported, white smoke has been detected at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station's Unit 3 reactor as of around 08:30. We are now investigating the cause.

In addition-and this is something we are also examining to see whether there is a direct connection-the radiation levels near the main entrance are changing considerably from moment to moment, and overall, we understand they remain within a range that would impact the human body. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency will give you the details on this. At one point last night, a radiation level of 1,000 μSv/h was detected, and as of this morning it had fallen to the 600-800 μSv/h range.

We have received a report that just after 10:00 this morning, the radiation levels near the main entrance jumped rapidly, reaching the mSv/h range. For this reason, reflecting this situation, the minimum necessary personnel on hand temporarily evacuated to a safe area. We will organize the precise figures and have them for you later, but as of 10:54, at least, these figures have started to fall.

Experts are hard at work analyzing the situation, but at present, we have not confirmed anything. The most probable case is that vapor is being released from part of the containment vessel, as took place in the Unit 2 reactor, and this is appearing as smoke. As this is vapor that has been absorbing the contained radiation, this may be the reason for the temporary rise in measured radiation levels. I repeat, this is not confirmed. This is the situation judged to be most likely according to the analysis at this time.

Right now we have people monitoring the radiation levels, in particular, and confirming conditions such as whether water is actually continuing to flow, with the end goal of swiftly analyzing this situation and deciding measures to take in response.

This is all I have to report to you at this point.