Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Q&As

REPORTER: In his remarks at the House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting, the Prime Minister made a comment that suggested that Japan would be reconsidering the export of nuclear power generation. However, I got the impression that his ideas are much different from yours. Would you please clarify?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I did not take his comments to suggest any reconsideration.

REPORTER: When referring to his individual responsibility in his remarks in the Diet, Minister Kaieda said something to the effect of, "I intend to carry out my responsibilities until the compensation-related reconstruction bill is passed," referring to the bill that is currently under deliberation. Considering that he spoke in a similar fashion the other day as well, it is possible to take this as an indication of his intention to resign once the bill is passed? Has he spoken to you about this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I do not interpret his comments that way.

REPORTER: Changing the subject, during the same Budget Committee meeting Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) Chairman Haruki Madarame said that he does not interpret the stress tests as a precondition of restarting operations at nuclear power stations. However, this comment is contradictory to the words of the three ministers in charge of the nuclear issue. Are Chairman Madarame's comments not contradictory? Please explain a little about the relationship between the stress tests and restarting operations at nuclear power stations.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Listening to your question I get the impression that the discussion about whether the tests are a condition for restarting operations becomes somewhat confused with the definition of "condition." From a legal standpoint, nothing has changed in that operations are still restarted according to the judgment of the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry following a confirmation by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). That is the case for legal issues. Conversely, the understanding and approval of local governments, for example, are not a legal requirement. However, due to various social and political decisions, efforts are being made to acquire the understanding of local authorities and it appears that there are people that want not only the NISA but the entire Cabinet to guarantee safety. In order to respond to these requests, the Government made the decision to implement so-called primary assessments as a procedure, or rule, with the aim of providing a stronger sense of safety. It is difficult to say whether "condition" is an appropriate choice of words. That is a tricky way of putting it. The point is that the Cabinet will use this process as a way to show that it follows a thorough procedure which allows it to assert to everyone that everything is safe.

REPORTER: I do not think that local related parties that watched the Diet proceedings on television will properly understand. Don't you think that locals will feel that the overall Government explanation has been lacking?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I honestly feel that we have yet to provide an adequate explanation. It appears that the NSC just held a meeting today, and I think that we have to carefully explain the concrete procedures we are following. I hear that a consensus has generally been met on the technical aspects as well, so we must do everything we can to explain to people the technical issues along with the procedures, so that people feel more at ease as we carry out these procedures in accordance with legal protocol.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I apologize, as I asked this during the morning press conference as well, but Senior-Vice Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Nobutaka Tsutsui indicated that the Government intends to buy up all of the contaminated beef. Is it safe to say that the Government is making such considerations?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I do not know the details of Senior-Vice Minister Tsutsui's comments, but we have requested that the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and others to conduct deliberations on various options. However, I have yet to receive a final report that proposes any potential solutions. Nevertheless, I believe that that is likely one of the options that is being discussed.