Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

Q&As

REPORTER: Earlier in the Budgetary Committee of the House of Councillors the Prime Minister stated that with regard to the temporary entry into the 20km no-entry zone, "although it will not be completed all in one go, the Government seeks to start the temporary entry operations at the earliest following the Golden Week national holiday." Can you tell us what the current status of this operation is?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: These operations are something that cannot be implemented without the specific cooperation of the municipal governments involved. With regard to these temporary entry visits which are in the public interest, as I have already announced, preparations are being made, and it should be possible to implement them in the next few days. As for the actual residents concerned, it appears that there may be some differences among the various local governments, but where preparations are most advanced, they are moving towards a target of starting the operations at the earliest following the Golden Week national holiday.

REPORTER: So you are saying that the difference in timing varies according to the preparations being made by the local governments?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that all the local governments are seeking to implement the temporary visits as soon as possible and therefore it will depend on liaison with central government and other factors in the preparation process.

REPORTER: On a related note, I have heard from local press coverage in the areas affected that the local governments are already involved in various work, including the issuance of disaster certificates and coordinating the receipt of applications for temporary payments, and therefore they are finding it difficult to engage in new work involving the temporary entry visits. How is the Government supporting the efforts of the local governments?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: If there are aspects of work that the central government could do on behalf of the local governments, then, we will make maximum efforts to take on such work, and I believe that if a structure is required to facilitate such a division of labor, it should be duly strengthened. However, there are certain aspects, including local geography and the status of the various local communities that cannot be implemented without first having knowledge of the local area. Also, as the evacuees are spread over a wide area, if the Government were to launch a system that would involve the cooperation of various local governments nationwide, there would be aspects that could only be handled and managed by people from the local areas affected. However, the Government will exert maximum efforts to take on some of the roles of the local governments and if this requires the provision of additional staff, then that is something which we would consider.

REPORTER: This was something mentioned briefly in the Budgetary Committee meeting. With regard to the temporary entry into the Planned Evacuation Zones following evacuation, is it the Government’s basic stance to restrict entry in a stringent manner, including the establishment of checkpoints or other means, like for the 20km no-entry zone? Or is it the case that no particular measures will be taken and the residents will be left to make their own choice about whether to enter temporarily or not? What is the Government’s basic stance?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The Government is not considering restrictive means or directly preventing people from entering the Planned Evacuation Zones. Also, as main prefectural roads run through the areas affected, we must bear this fact in mind and allow for passage through the area. This is something that has been pointed out to the Government before. However, with regard to actually living in the zones or engaging in work and business in the zones for extended periods, while we would like to give people maximum leeway to do this, from the perspective of safety we are currently engaged in coordination, although criticisms have been made that this coordination has been delayed, and I would like the residents of the affected zones to understand this point and respond appropriately.

REPORTER: For example, in the case of the village of Iitate, you visited the village for several hours without wearing any kind of protective clothing, and in comparison to the 20km no-entry zone, it is unlikely to pose much adverse impact on health by entering the village for a short time. If that is the case, I think that it is likely that the residents will want to return from time to time to pick up their belongings. What will the Government's basic response to such actions be?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: While I do not think that it is necessary to have a structure in place to manage temporary entry, like the one in place for temporary entry into the 20km no-entry zone, there are, however, differences in the volumes of radiation within the Planned Evacuation Zones. The designation for these zones has been made to ensure that residents are not exposed to more than 20 mSv on an annual basis, assuming outdoor exposure of eight hours per day. If residents enter the Planned Evacuation Zones frequently, there is a possibility that their exposure may exceed the stipulated 20 mSv annually. Therefore, while I well understand the desire of the people to return to their homes, from the perspective of ensuring safety the Government seeks to continue to make maximum efforts to ensure that a detailed and localized response is made, and I ask in the first instance that people understand the basic principles behind the designation of the zones.

REPORTER: In the future are you considering setting forth guidelines or criteria that stipulate how long it would be acceptable for the residents to return home or remain in the zones?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: It is difficult to say with any certainty at the moment, but given the fact that we have designated these zones for planned evacuation, we are following a line that children and pregnant women should not enter the zones. However, with regard to the degree to which it is possible to apply criteria for entry, we are currently in consultation with the local residents at some points and seeking to accommodate their views. However, I repeat what I have said before that from the viewpoint of safety, we continue to ask the residents to leave and make every effort not to enter the zones. I would like to have the residents' understanding on this fundamental point.

REPORTER: I hear that within the 20km no-entry zone the culling of cattle has begun. Could you tell us whether it is the prefectural government that is making the designations for this cull, or whether the central government is consulting with the prefecture on this matter?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: After consulting with the local governments and getting the approval of Fukushima prefecture for emergency measures to be taken, it was announced that cattle and livestock that were in a critical condition would be culled. This was a measure taken in consultation with the local governments concerned and the farmers and livestock breeders themselves and was implemented from the perspective of safety and also on the basis of the feelings of the farmers themselves, given the critical condition the cattle were in. The Government will work together with the local governments and farmers and will offer maximum cooperation and make a specific and flexible response to this situation as the measures are carried out.

REPORTER: May I ask again what your thoughts are on compensation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Compensation will cover those areas within the 20km zone as well as those areas within the 30km zone and the Planned Evacuation Zones. Those who were unable to sell their cattle and other livestock, which would have been sold had this incident not occurred, will of course be compensated.

REPORTER: I believe starting today, the press conferences related to the nuclear power station accident and its countermeasures given by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), respectively, will be held jointly. What are your thoughts on the intention and purpose behind this move?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Since the accident, there were a number of criticisms about how the same thing was being announced separately by different agencies. On the other hand, particularly in the early stages of the accident, amid a very unstable situation, it was important for the agency which had the information to announce and disclose it at the earliest possible stage of obtaining that information. Furthermore, there is some importance to each agency holding its own press conferences and making announcements based on its respective position. However, as the series of events have stabilized, we judged that, although the understanding and opinions of the respective agencies may differ based on their positions, it would make sense for the agencies to make joint reports in an organized manner, especially about the data and other facts.

REPORTER: While there are advantages to merging the press conferences, I believe there are also problems with holding joint press conferences by the proponents of nuclear power and their regulators at the same time. Do you have any opinions about this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Regarding your point, it is not such that NSC is in a completely different place, and that based on only the reports it receives it checks what's going on, or that NISA does not monitor the situation with TEPCO having absolutely no involvement. The response to this accident is not structured that way. In this context, the agencies must conduct their operations at the same location or neighboring locations, while fully bearing in mind their respective positions. The agencies making announcements at the same place is an extension of this, and has advantages in terms of facilitating the understanding of the general public. I believe both the press conferences as well as the responses will take into account the positions of the respective agencies.

REPORTER: If I may ask a question on the local elections - in yesterday's election for Mayor of Setagaya, Mr. Nobuto Hosaka, who pledged to do away with nuclear power, was elected. What is your opinion on the election's impact on the review of the energy policy?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I endorsed a certain candidate for Mayor of Setagaya in the election. At the same time, as a member of the Diet, Mr. Hosaka has been a friend of mine since his days as a Diet member. Therefore, I have very mixed feelings about the election result.

REPORTER: Going back to the subject of temporary re-entry into the 20km zone, would you please comment on the details of explanations being made to municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture regarding the policies of temporary re-entry, such as the five-hour limit?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Are you referring to temporary re-entry into the 20km zone?

REPORTER: Yes.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that the policy presented by the Government was that people are basically allowed to return home for two hours.

REPORTER: Could you explain what orders were given to municipalities within the No-entry Zone, such as the five-hour limit or the one person per household rule?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that the Government's policies on setting the No-entry Zone and for making temporary re-entry have already been presented in detail. Based on these policies concrete operations will be carried out with the cooperation of municipal governments and others. We have allotted about two hours to take care of the various affairs that must be handled at each person's home. Of course, geographical factors will also come into play when calculating the total amount of time necessary inside of the 20km zone, considering travel time before and after the home visit and other factors. At the same time, however, we will have the re-entries carried out after paying thorough respect to the amount of radiation exposure given said timeframe. Amidst these circumstances, we are having an actual response carried out in consideration of what we deem to be an approximate maximum level of exposure.

REPORTER: The municipalities have been given such orders as only allowing one person per household to return home, excluding persons under the age of 15 and elderly persons. Was this an official decision of the entire Government?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First, I would like everyone to understand that this is the first round of returns. We are not planning on only doing this once. We assume that for the first round nearly all households will request re-entry. All families will return to their homes once and retrieve their essentials. The Government's policies were created based on completing this round in a safe manner. We want everything to be conducted in accordance with these policies. However, there are a large number of people that have asked if they can retrieve their cars, or made other similar requests. Also, in the Diet, some commented that it is likely no single person in a household knows where everything is located in the house. There are a myriad of circumstances and we plan to consider various methods for a flexible response from the second round of returns. However, we are asking that the first round of returns be made in accordance with the policies that we laid out the other day.

REPORTER: One of the conditions for temporary re-entry is limiting radiation exposure to 1mSv. How are you going to restrict doses to this limit? Also, how will you respond in the event that there is an unexpected change at the nuclear power station during a re-entry?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First, if there is no unexpected change, radiation exposure should be no more than 1mSv. Of course if there is an unexpected change, we will have everyone evacuate immediately. For this reason, returnees will be moving in groups. Operations will be carried out while providing information on the situation of the nuclear power station in a nearly real-time fashion. When I say that we will limit radiation exposure to 1mSv or less, I mean that monitoring will be conducted and levels measured directly before the re-entry in the surrounding area of the settlement and the passage of travel. This will allow us to forecast generally how much we can limit radiation exposure in consideration of the amount of exposure per hour and roughly what time the re-entries will be carried out. We will be conducting the re-entries in consideration of this information.