Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have one item to report to you, concerning the lifting of restrictions on shipment. Today, May 16, in accordance with Article 20, Paragraph 3 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, it was decided to lift the restrictions on shipment of log-grown shiitake mushrooms grown outside, that have been produced in the city of Tamura and the town of Shinchi, excluding the areas of the said town and city that fall within a 20km radius of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. Instructions to this effect have been communicated to the governor of Fukushima Prefecture. For further details please direct your questions to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).

Q&As

REPORTER: According to opinion polls taken by a number of press organizations, while the majority of the public support the Government's decision to request that operations at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station be halted, the downturn in the approval rating of the Cabinet is continuing. What are your views on these opinion polls?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As is always the case, I will refrain from making direct comments about the results and figures of individual opinion polls. With regard to the halting of operations at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station, while I believe that there are various opinions and standpoints on the issue, the Government will continue to make efforts to gain the understanding of more people on the matter.

REPORTER: What are your thoughts on public expectations for the revision of the Government's nuclear policy?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I think that in the wake of the accident at the nuclear power station operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) it is only natural that many of the members of the public would have strong concerns about the safety of nuclear power stations. The Government will take the opinions of the public into account and will seek to engage in thorough consideration of nuclear power policy from the perspective of ensuring public safety and security, based on the results of an investigation into the accident.

REPORTER: A delegation led by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov of Russia has visited the islands of Etorofu and Kunashiri in the Northern Territories, the first such visit since the disaster in Japan. What are the Government's views on this visit?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The continuation of visits by senior Russian officials, not just on this occasion, contradicts the Japanese Government's basic stance on the Northern Territories. These visits neglect the feelings of the Japanese people and are extremely regrettable. Already this morning, Minister for Foreign Affairs Matsumoto has summoned Mr. Mikhail Bely, Ambassador to Japan of the Russian Federation, to express these views of the Japanese Government.

REPORTER: On every occasion the Government states that such visits are regrettable and repeatedly lodges protests, but what measures do you think the Government should take in the future?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: No matter how many times such visits are repeated by persons from the Russian Government, there will be no change to the basic stance of the Japanese Government. These visits neglect the feelings of the Japanese people and serve no purpose or benefit for Russia. The Government will continue to convey this message to the Russian Government.

REPORTER: The visit to the Northern Territories by five Russian officials coincided with a visit to the islands by a Japanese delegation on the non-visa exchange program. There are opinions that the visit by the Russian delegation was deliberately timed to strongly highlight Russia's effective rule over the islands. What are your views on this matter?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am not aware of the intentions of the Russian Government but whatever the case, such visits neglect the feelings of the Japanese people and however many times they are repeated, there will be no change whatsoever in the basic stance of the Japanese Government. Conversely, there is no benefit for Russia in implementing these visits. The Government will continue to convey this message to the Russian Government.

REPORTER: The Managing Director Strauss-Kahn of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been arrested by New York police for an alleged sexual assault. Japan is the second largest contributor to the IMF and I would like to ask for the Japanese Government's view on this incident and whether the Government considers that someone who has been arrested on such a suspicion should remain as chief of the IMF?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am aware of the matter that you mentioned, but I will refrain from direct comment on an individual criminal investigation. I understand that the functions of the IMF remain unaffected, with the First Deputy Managing Director taking on the role of acting Managing Director.

REPORTER: I have a question relating to the rationalization of TEPCO. The other day President Shimizu stated that at the current time there are no plans to reduce retirement and pension payments to TEPCO employees. What are your views on this statement?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I felt once again that TEPCO does not understand the position it holds in society.

REPORTER: So do you think that retirement and pension funds should be reduced?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Going forward, a third-party committee will be established to examine the various internal situations at TEPCO. This is something that the Government wishes to gain an understanding of and such information will be shared with the public. The Government wishes to proceed on that basis.

REPORTER: Yesterday, with regard to the organization of TEPCO, Minister Gemba stated that power generation and power transmission could be separated. Is such a review and restructuring of TEPCO likely in the future?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I think that it is a potential option.

REPORTER: With regard to the realignment of U.S. Forces in Japan, there have been reports that landing and take-off exercises for carrier-based aircraft could be relocated to Mageshima in Kagoshima Prefecture. What is the current status of considerations?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am aware of the reports, but as considerations are ongoing based on the operational necessity of take-off and landing exercises for carrier-based aircraft, at the current point no specific candidate locations have been designated.

REPORTER: TEPCO disclosed on April 15 the results of their analysis, which was that the meltdown of Unit No. 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station "had started a few hours after it was hit by the tsunami." Also, Mr. Goshi Hosono, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, said in a program on Fuji Television on the same day to the effect that "the recognition of the current situation will be revised," and "the fact that a meltdown has occurred ought to be acknowledged." Is the Government unwilling to admit to the occurrence of a meltdown, as defined by the Atomic Energy Commission on April 18? Please share with us your views.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Whatever the case, there are major restrictions on the kind of data we are able to obtain about the conditions of the nuclear power station due to power outage and broken or malfunctioning measuring gauges. As such, it is unfortunately extremely difficult even now to gain an accurate understanding of what exactly happened inside the reactors. Up to now, taking into consideration the possibility that the situation around the nuclear power station, that is to say, the amount of radiation, as well as the situation of the nuclear power station itself may deteriorate further, we have taken such steps as asking the residents to evacuate and have taken measures based on various possible scenarios in order to prevent the situation from worsening even further. It is my understanding that under such circumstances, we have been able to gradually obtain more specific data compared to when the accident first occurred, and based on that, TEPCO has arrived at certain results in the analysis it conducted and released it immediately. At present, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) is receiving a report of the analysis and the Government is also conducting an analysis of the new data. Though I myself am not an expert on this subject, based on the views shared by the experts, it is my understanding that we, unfortunately, must acknowledge the fact that the fuel inside the reactor had melted. Meanwhile, we have asked the residents in the area the difficult task of evacuating. We are currently making deliberations, while taking the analysis into consideration, on whether further improvements need to be made on the roadmap for preventing the situation of the reactors from worsening further, for bringing the situation under control by eventually bringing the reactors to the state of cold shutdown.

REPORTER: On a related note, as early as on March 12, Deputy Director-General for Nuclear Safety of NISA Koichiro Nakamura made an announcement to the effect that "the melting of the reactor core could possibly be advancing." It looks as if he actually had a better understanding of the facts. And on the next day, March 13, he was removed from the position of being in charge of press conferences, and so I think it natural that this would cause some to believe that the Government had the intention of covering up the facts. Why was Mr. Nakamura removed and replaced?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: You mean Mr. Nakamura who was in charge of public relations for NISA?

REPORTER: Yes, he was in charge of the press conferences.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We at the Prime Minister's Office do not have direct control over these matters. I am not directly aware of what kinds of officials, for what reasons, are appointed to be in charge of press conferences. Furthermore, regarding the possibility of a meltdown, the word "meltdown" can be taken in so many different nuances. For example, particularly if based on the mere impression of its word, some may think of the situation of so-called "China Syndrome," while the direct translation means that a portion of the fuel has melted. While there is such a wide-range of possibilities, the Government had been taking into consideration from the very beginning the possibility that the fuel has melted, and has been taking steps on how best to stop or keep its damage to a minimum, and if it were in fact melted, how best to keep it from leading to further damage.

REPORTER: I assume that planned evacuation has started today in Iitate Village and other places. Although the Government has been saying that the residents will be evacuated early, like during the Golden Week holiday period, ultimately this did not happen until today, May 16, which is quite a delay. What are your thoughts on this? Also, the accumulated radiation dosage since March 23 has already reached 16mSv in some places in Iitate Village. Please tell us your thoughts again on this fact.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am truly sorry for the residents who have actually started evacuating, who must be heartbroken to leave their hometown and will be forced to live under extremely difficult conditions away from home. The local people, including those in the local governments of Iitate Village and Kawamata Town, cooperated with us in requesting the residents to evacuate - which is an extremely difficult process as we had to respect the feelings of the residents - and I truly appreciate their cooperation. Although it is true that the accumulated radiation increases as days go by, the accumulated radiation dosage you mention is based on a certain kind of assumption. I assume that those in the planned evacuation zones are now leading a very different lifestyle compared to people under normal circumstances where they are expected to spend 8 hours outside the home, especially given that they have been extensively informed on radiation dosage. In that sense, I believe that residents will be evacuated to avoid exceeding the radiation dosage of 20mSv per year as initially planned.

REPORTER: My question relates to the visit to the Northern Territories by Russian ministers. A senior official of the Russian military force has made an announcement concerning the plan to reorganize the artillery unit stationed in Kunashiri and Etorofu Islands, that Russia will swiftly modernize the unit over the next four or five years by equipping it with cruise missiles and attack helicopters. As Russia is moving toward consolidating its de-facto control - although this sounds too extreme - over the islands, does the Japanese Government contemplate any specific actions other than calling the Ambassador to express displeasure?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First of all, regardless of what intention the Russian side has for taking these actions, there is no change to Japan's basic stance on this issue, and my understanding is that the Russian Government is doing no good to diplomacy by taking actions that only sour Japan's national sentiment toward Russia. As to what we are going to do in response - since this is a matter of diplomacy, and revealing our action beforehand would render it meaningless as a diplomatic card, I would only announce what has already been done.

REPORTER: Concerning the planned evacuation zones, I believe members of the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) requested that exceptions be allowed for special long-term care homes and operation of factories where the radiation dosage is expected to be low. How will the Government respond to the request?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We need to prioritize safety above all, of course, and we also have to ensure fairness in a certain sense as we are asking people to swallow the difficult decision in spite of different circumstances each of them may face. Based on these two premises, there is a need to take flexible responses in light of objective needs. We are discussing and making arrangements with the local people for this including the request just mentioned.