Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: What is your view of the incident in which employees of Kyushu Electric Power Company sent faked e-mails, calling for the restarting of operations at Genkai Nuclear Power Station?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: This is truly outrageous behavior and particularly in view of the fact that the Government and also power companies themselves must work hard to gain the understanding of the public concerning the safety of nuclear power generation, it is a highly regrettable act. I have received a report that the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry has already issued a severe caution through the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy (ANRE) and has demanded a report on the facts of the incident and the measures that will be taken to prevent a recurrence. I wish for those involved to reflect hard and long on their behavior that has caused a loss of credibility and make maximum efforts towards restoring the confidence that has been lost.

REPORTER: What do you think will be the impact on the restarting of operations at the nuclear power station?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Frankly speaking, I think it will be unavoidable that this incident will have some impact on the restarting of operations. I believe that it is now of even greater necessity than before for Kyushu Electric Power Co. to provide an explanation that will gain public trust concerning enhanced safety at the power station.

REPORTER: In your recent meeting with Governor Furukawa of Saga Prefecture, the governor has indicated that you gave no clear explanation concerning whether the creation of new standards, such as stress tests, would be a precondition for the restarting of operations at the power station and that you stated that the situation was under a process of coordination. Given those comments from the governor, what kind of explanation did you provide in your recent meeting?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I stated yesterday, stress tests will be implemented. I think there is some degree of confusion between the implementation of stress tests, which is one broad issue that concerns power stations including the currently operating ones, and another issue, which is the restarting of operations at power stations where operations are currently suspended. Naturally, the Government will consider the implementation of stress tests for all nuclear power stations in the future, or rather will consider means of implementing checks, taking stress tests as a source of reference, which will give the public greater peace of mind. I believe that this was the intention of the statement made by Minister Kaieda. With regard to the restarting of operations at nuclear power stations where operations have been suspended, in the case of Genkai Nuclear Power Station the Government has indicated its decision that the power station is safe on the basis of stringent safety checks stipulated by law and by even stricter additional checks. While there are some people who have shown their understanding of this decision, there are others who feel differently. It is for this reason that the Government has sought to refer to other means of checks, including stress tests, as a means of further boosting public peace of mind with regard to safety and with a view to implementing such checks on all nuclear power stations. The specifics of this measure are being coordinated by Minister Kaieda and Hosono and are being advanced as a means of providing further peace of mind for the public. I explained to the governor that the Government will make every effort to ensure that coordination of this measure does not cause inconvenience for local residents or local leaders, and that it can be finalized quickly and communicated to those concerned in an easily understandable manner.

REPORTER: On a related note, following your meeting, Governor Furukawa stated in an interview with the press that the mayor of Genkai Town took a dim view of the measure and had withdrawn his approval for the restarting of operations, indicating that the restarting of operations at Genkai Nuclear Power Station may now be fraught with difficulty. Does the Government also believe that the restarting of operations will be faced with difficulties?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have always been aware that given the accident in Fukushima it will be necessary to make vigorous efforts to reconfirm the safety of nuclear power stations and to provide security and peace of mind to the public by demonstrating that safety has been confirmed. I realize that this measure has caused some inconvenience especially to the local mayor, however the Government seeks to consider further means by which to boost peace of mind, as well as confirming safety as a matter of course. We aim to put this measure in place as soon as possible and convey the details about it in an easily understandable manner. It is a difficult issue, but the Government hopes to gain understanding about it.

REPORTER: In the same press interview, Governor Furukawa stated that in the meeting you gave no clear response concerning why the announcement about stress tests had been made at this point in time. What explanation did you provide to the governor concerning the reason for the timing of the announcement on the stress tests and if you could not give a clear explanation, why was this not possible?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I have just mentioned, I believe that there is some degree of confusion surrounding this matter, and unless we wait for further coordination and a report about a final decision on the form the measure will ultimately take, I believe it could invite further renewed confusion and raise concerns about what the Government is trying to do. In that sense, while the observations of the governor are true, in our meeting today, in the interests of avoiding misunderstanding and confusion, I did not give a direct explanation, pending the conclusion of coordination and consideration about the measure.

REPORTER: I believe that the local residents and the public in general perceive a great deal of confusion in the Government's response. How will the Government move to gain the understanding of the people?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that it will be necessary to coordinate this measure and explain it in an easily understandable manner. I repeat that based on current legislation and in view of the accident in Fukushima the Government has thoroughly confirmed the safety of Genkai Nuclear Power Station. Regrettably there are various differing opinions about the safety of the power station, and therefore the Government is in the process of devising means to provide further peace of mind concerning safety. Once these means and the method to be used to implement them are decided, then the entire framework will be put in place and reported to the public in an easily understandable manner.

REPORTER: Do you not think that the cause of the confusion in the first place was in the unclear Government policy?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: The Government has thoroughly confirmed safety and has provided explanations to date, but regrettably, while on the one hand there are people like the mayor of Genkai town who have shown their understanding of the situation, there are others who remain uneasy about the safety of the power station. The Government has therefore implemented a process through which it aims to provide further peace of mind concerning safety, and I believe that the purpose of this process has not been sufficiently explained. Rather, it has been the case that the process may have temporarily created further unease and this is something that the Government should reflect on and seek to remedy.

REPORTER: The governor stated in his press interview that he thought the Prime Minister and Minister Kaieda had differing perceptions of nuclear policy. What is your response to this observation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I have seen press coverage today that implies such a difference in perception, but in a broad sense I do not believe that there are any great differences between the Prime Minister and Minister Kaieda. However, with regard to the point that we must provide an explanation in an easily understandable and unified manner, I believe that I too must make effort in my position as Chief Cabinet Secretary, otherwise we will not be able to put across such a clear and understandable message to the public, nor improve peace of mind. We are therefore engaged in efforts so that we can make such an explanation in a unified and understandable manner.

REPORTER: An explanatory meeting is scheduled to be held for local residents tomorrow. You have said that you want to provide an easily understandable explanation as soon as possible, but when will that be specifically?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: We are making efforts on a daily basis and coordinating the matters that are possible for us to coordinate. There will be Diet questions today on this matter. As it is imperative that responses be provided to Diet questions, I am aware that efforts are currently underway to coordinate and set in place the parts of the measures for which it is possible to do so and to provide clear responses to Diet questions.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to ask a question about electricity-saving measures. It's been pointed out that crimes have increased as a result of street lights being turned off in order to save electricity during the evenings. Nighttime electricity conservation is not that pressing of a situation to start with. In this context, what are your thoughts on the fact that crimes are increasing as a result of electricity-saving measures?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe your question integrates several points. With respect to electricity-saving as a whole, I believe it is enormously important that many people are indeed very conscious of the need to save electricity in a variety of meanings, given the current situation of the electricity supply. In this sense, if people do not have to save electricity because it's not peak hours, or they only have to save electricity during peak hours, this would also give rise to the problem in which peoples' consciousness to save electricity, including during peak hours, will not yield sufficient effects. As a general rule of thumb, people are urged to conserve their electricity usage regardless of the time of day and so forth. Also, while of course evenings are generally off-peak hours, surplus electricity during the evenings, leaving aside the question of to what extent, is used for pumped-storage power generation. In other words, the water which has once fallen due to hydroelectric power generation is raised again using nighttime surplus electricity, and hydroelectric power generation is used during the afternoon peak hours. I understand that efforts are being made to make maximum use of the surplus electricity to overcome the peak hours. Therefore, the situation is not necessarily such that nighttime equals generally low electricity consumption. That said, as you pointed out, I believe not only in terms of crime prevention but also in a variety of meanings, beginning with tackling heat stroke, electricity-saving measures should not be causing health and safety risks. In this sense, I believe the need to save electricity has of course been studied and reviewed to date in the context of the overall electricity supply-demand balance, including the need to turn off street lights, etc. in the evenings from the perspective of crime prevention. Since this issue has been pointed out, I will once again have the matter checked out to see if there is excessive electricity-saving taking place while safety is being sacrificed.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to go back slightly to the subject of restarting nuclear power stations. A moment ago, you said that the explanation will be provided in an easily and understandable and unified manner. In your opening statement, you said that the stress tests will be conducted for all nuclear power stations, including those in operation, and this is being confused with the issue of restarting nuclear power stations which are currently shut down. In short, do you mean that the Government will be presenting uniform ideas on restarting the nuclear power stations which are currently shut down and on carrying out the overall stress tests, respectively?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: First, it means that we need to think of a review scheme by referring to the stress tests so that people can have a greater sense of assurance. My understanding is that there is slight confusion between this and the stress tests themselves. In this sense, I believe we need to report in a more organized manner, namely, about at what timing and in what ways we are going to increase the sense of assurance as a whole, and how we are going to ensure this safety. In close consultation with relevant ministers, we hope to organize this information in as clear a format as possible and as quickly as possible through a sequential process.