Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: At the outset, I have two items to report. The first item is about upcoming visits by the Prime Minister. On June 18 (Saturday), the Prime Minister will make a day trip to Urayasu City and Narashino City in Chiba Prefecture. He is scheduled to, among other things, assess the status of the damage from soil liquefaction caused by the earthquake.

The other item is about shipment restrictions. The Government has decided to establish shipment restrictions for Japanese dace as well as non-farmed, wild yamame (a kind of trout) caught in Mano River in Fukushima Prefecture. Today, in accordance with Article 20, Paragraph 3 of the Act on Special Measures Concerning Nuclear Emergency Preparedness, the Government issued instructions to the Governor of Fukushima Prefecture. For details, please direct your questions to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.

Q&As

REPORTER: According to Xinhua News, the State Oceanic Administration of China has dispatched an oceanographic research vessel to an area near Okinotori Island in order to confirm and study the impact of radiation contamination of the ocean caused by the incident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. What is the Government's understanding of this issue? Was there advance notice from the Chinese side?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I am aware of the Xinhua report. While this is something Japan is also keeping a close eye on, from the perspectives of national defense and security I would like to refrain from touching on the specifics regarding the concrete information we are aware of and any other information.

REPORTER: If these were activities in Japan's Exclusive Economize Zone (EEZ), I believe advance notice is normally required. Does Japan have any plan to, for example, issue a formal protest to China or take any other action?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: At this time, it has been announced that the purpose of this dispatch is "to study the impact on the marine environment in the Western Pacific." Naturally, in terms of firmly protecting Japan's EEZ and territorial waters, we are collecting information. We intend to take all possible measures to collect information and monitor activities.

REPORTER: I have a question on the study of the internal radiation exposure of residents of Fukushima Prefecture. I believe plans are now being finalized for the Prefecture to lead the verification efforts. Up until now, I believe that many residents have also urged that efforts be quickly made to carry out a study of internal exposure. Why hasn't the Government done anything about this until now? Also, does the national government have no intention of taking responsibility and promptly addressing this issue?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The national government, too, believes that it must take responsibility for fully studying and addressing the health impact on the residents of Fukushima Prefecture. Against this background, we understand that there are rising concerns particularly about internal exposure among the residents. In the context of dividing the roles between the Prefecture and the Government, the Government believes that we too have responsibilities to fulfill and is making preparations as such. As for whether it is the Government or the Prefecture which is to play a direct role for each issue, since each activity involves a great deal of direct and extensive work with residents, there is the issue of whether it is indeed necessarily efficient for the national government to be directly involved. Nevertheless, for example, with respect to the cost burden or scientific and technical expertise or any other similar points, the Government intends to fully live up to its responsibilities.

REPORTER: Regarding internal exposure, I believe there are also now talks about there not being enough whole body counters. I believe there are over 100 whole body counters available including those possessed by local municipalities, etc. It is possible to respond promptly to the residents' requests using these instruments?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I understand that whole body counters are used for verifying internal exposure, and are the most accurate instruments available in many ways. However, my understanding is that these are extremely precise devices and that they cannot be moved around very easily. In this context, we hope to make full use of these devices throughout Japan. At the same time, if it is difficult to move these devices to Fukushima and neighboring areas, we would like to discuss with the Prefecture about what sort of Government assistance would enable the effective use of such devices.

REPORTER: You are saying then that the Government has made such requests to respective municipalities or indicated that this may be a possibility?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Rather, I am saying there are a variety of possibilities. For example, a person from Fukushima may wish to travel far away to receive the test or others may wish to receive the test close by even if this takes a little more time. We will first discuss our options with the Prefecture. In actuality, the Government does not directly have a full understanding of the devices possessed by those other than the Government or government-related organizations. Therefore, we are at the stage of trying to get a grasp on this information.

REPORTER: Today marks two months since TEPCO released the "Roadmap towards Restoration from the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station." There are now plans to release an amendment to this Roadmap, and the national government also released a roadmap on May 17 for those affected by the nuclear incident. Looking at the Government roadmap, the goal for the completion of Step One falls within the middle of July. The goal for the evacuation of Planned Evacuation Zones was supposed to be late May, but it still has not been completed. And I believe that looking at the situation of temporary re-entry visits as well, they have not been completed yet either. What is your opinion of the current state of progress regarding the work of the Government and the Roadmap?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I feel that at this stage we are making progress within the initially set timeframes, but that as we have proceeded toward a conclusion to this incident there have arisen a number of problems that we have been obliged to deal with. There have been many conditions which have affected the issues you pointed out, the evacuation of Planned Evacuation Zones and the undertaking of temporary re-entry visits - it is a fact that not everything is proceeding as originally planned. With temporary re-entry visits in particular, we are currently having intense discussion on measures to be implemented by the national government and are undertaking an evaluation to speed up this process. I hope that those who wish to visit their homes will be able to do so as soon as possible. As for the Planned Evacuation Zones, I think that based on radiation levels around these areas and analyses based on those readings, it would be better to complete evacuations as soon as possible. However, I also think that we need to consider the various circumstances of the residents of these zones as we move forward.

REPORTER: You just touched upon the discussion going on regarding temporary re-entry. Some municipalities are suggesting extremely long timeframes for this, such as five months from the start of such operations to completion. Within the discussion on this, is the Government considering giving temporary support to these municipalities, such as by providing personnel to help them implement re-entry visits?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We are still in the discussion stage at the moment. I think it is still too early to make a comment about that. I will just say that we are currently having an in-depth discussion for the purpose of speeding that process up.