Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

JAPANESE

Q&As

REPORTER: In the answers to the Diet that the Cabinet approved today, with regards to the export of nuclear power stations, the policy set out was that Japan will continue exports, stating that if the other party, that is if a foreign country wishes it, Japan should provide nuclear power stations built using the highest safety standards in the world. However, until now when questioned on this issue Prime Minister Kan has said that "we need to debate it very carefully one more time." I wonder about the consistency of this. Is it not contradictory?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Basically, taking into account the nuclear incident and other factors, the Investigation Committee on the Accident at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Stations of Tokyo Electric Power Company (hereafter the "Investigation Committee") is dedicated to studying the cause of the incident and revealing the truth of the matter. Furthermore, the IAEA is also working on an evaluation of nuclear safety initiatives. Therefore, I think Japan should work out its stance as a nation about the best approach to international nuclear cooperation as soon as possible, taking into consideration these studies and investigations. This is fundamental. Now, keeping this in mind, regarding the nuclear cooperation with other countries that we have been advancing until now, there have been accumulated diplomatic negotiations and there is the trust we have cultivated with other states, and we will proceed with caution so as not to damage any of this. There is absolutely nothing contradictory about this.

REPORTER: So do you mean that when in the future a foreign country wants the export of a nuclear power station from Japan, which for the foreign country will be an import, in the case that the country asks for this you might be wary to agree?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: As I just said.

REPORTER: You said at a press conference the other day concerning the Prime Minister's statement to revise the policy on nuclear technology exports that you do not take his comment to mean revision. Some are of the view that there is some kind of discord within the Cabinet. What do you think about this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: What the Prime Minister was saying formerly, and what I have been saying, have been completely cleared up in our conversation today, hasn't it?

REPORTER: I just want to confirm this point - on the one hand you seem to be saying that you will be careful not to damage your existing cooperative relationships, but if that is the case, how will you approach the forming of new cooperative relationships?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I want to work out Japan's stance as a nation about the best approach to international nuclear cooperation as soon as possible.

REPORTER: Can we understand this to mean that until you have worked out your new stance you will not start any new negotiations, or take any new orders?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I want to proceed with the nuclear cooperation with other countries that has been undertaken already in such a way as to avoid damage to the many diplomatic negotiations we have completed and the trust between states that we have cultivated. On the other hand, regarding the best approach to international cooperation for Japan, I want to work out our stance as soon as possible taking into consideration the studies - the evaluation by the IAEA and the investigation by the Investigation Committee.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Minister Goshi Hosono has made an announcement about a draft proposal for a new nuclear power organization, but after this new organization has been created, are you going to recruit top officials and senior officials in technical fields from other government agencies, or will you recruit them from the private sector? What are your thoughts about this?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: What we have worked out today, and what Mr. Hosono has presented, is an attempted draft for an overall framework. Therefore, I think the recruitment of personnel is the kind of topic for which the details still need to be worked out through specific studies. I think we have reached a common understanding that the major presupposition is that it is not acceptable either to make a parallel shift of existing agencies or to only connect parts of existing organizations.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to ask about the draft proposal announced by Minister Hosono. I think that the ideal organization structure of the Government is one of the important items on the discussion agenda of the third-party Investigation Committee as well, and I wonder, without a conclusion to that discussion, in terms of coherence within the Government, can you really even proceed forward with the talk on the draft plan?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Because debate on the plan was made from the perspective that the Investigation Committee would also discuss similar points, we have organized this into a two-stage process. I believe that the separation of the functions of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) is something for which there is general consensus among the public. I also think that most expect this to be done quickly. On the other hand, in terms of the overall, detailed regulations for atomic power etc., I think we will see a need for additional work at some point in the future depending on the results of discussions within the Investigation Committee. In order to balance these two issues, we are first focusing on the functions of NISA for the first stage, and at the same time moving forward with any needed work based on discussions in the Investigation Committee for the second stage. This is how we are handling the organization of this matter.

REPORTER: I have a follow up question to that. There is talk that NISA might be made an external organization of the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) or the Cabinet Office. I believe that if the Ministerial position to be in charge of this is placed within the Cabinet Office, then unlike the case of Minister of Environment, it is possible that he or she will end up with several tasks. Has there been any thought as to whether a dedicated Ministerial position will be created for this, either within the Cabinet Office or the MOE?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Either way, I believe that based on the debate of the Investigation Committee etc., we will really need to put a lot of effort into rethinking atomic power safety regulations in particular. In addition, based on the investigation into the nuclear incident, I expect that we will need to establish various measures to ensure safety in the future. And then the Minister in charge of this will also, I suspect, play a very large role in reestablishing trust in the regulatory system in place. So regardless of which organization the position belongs to, I am imagining that it will need to be a State Minister-level position which is a dedicated one or something very close to it.

REPORTER: I have something of a hypothetical question. The Cabinet Office is only allowed to hold a limited number of ministers. During a press conference this morning, Minister Gemba stated that he felt it would be difficult to increase the number of ministers in the Office. Don't you think that it will be difficult to create a dedicated position for atomic power policy in the case of the Cabinet Office?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Even if the position is created within the MOE, it will still have some duties related to environmental administration.

REPORTER: On a related note, the Hosono proposal discusses both options of creating an external organization in either the Cabinet Office or the MOE. What was the point of announcing this before there was consensus among the ministers?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I think that considering this was just a draft proposal, a great amount of consensus has already been reached for the areas about which we could make decisions. Among all of the issues yet open for debate, the biggest one is the part where two opinions are included. I think that there is a need to further discuss this issue within the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and that within that debate one of the points is the necessity and importance of gaining the public's trust in the atomic power regulations. In that sense, we are interested in asking the public which of the two opinions are better, and while we will not actually be making a call for public comments, we believed that it would be a good idea to watch the public's reaction including the debate that occurs within the media for a few days after announcing the proposal and then make a decision based on it.

REPORTER: But which option do you think is better?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that you might already be able to guess that, for the most part. In general, I think that before decisions are made the state ministers should clearly state their own opinions in public, and I don't think this signals discord within the Cabinet. Nevertheless, since the role of the Chief Cabinet Secretary is to consolidate opinions, I think it is more appropriate that I personally refrain from clearly stating my opinion in public at the stage before consolidation.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: In relation to safety regulations, what schedule and process are you thinking of implementing in order to turn the draft proposal announced today into legislation that can be submitted to the Diet?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I believe that work will probably be advanced toward having all related bills enacted by the time of the establishment of a new organization in April next year, as was envisaged by Minister Hosono and myself in the process of drafting this proposal. This is going to be quite difficult - it is no easy task. In order to have the bills passed in the Diet within March next year, they must be submitted to the Diet at the start of the ordinary session next year. Putting aside how the result will turn out, we will be working toward that goal.

REPORTER: Haven't you considered submitting them to the extraordinary session this autumn? Or do you think they won't make it very far given the situation right now?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Even putting aside the second stage, that is, just considering the first stage, I think we will need to see a considerable amount of legislation drafting and related clerical work.

REPORTER: I would like to confirm one point. Certain reports have said that the Government intends to make a Cabinet decision on this matter. Does this Cabinet decision mean approving the draft proposal presented by Mr. Hosono, or a separate, much simpler document, something like a basic policy?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: I don't think there are so many examples of Cabinet decisions approving a document that includes two opinions.

REPORTER: So does that mean approving a simplified document?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: By the time we get into the specific process of legislation drafting, I think it is desirable that some form of Cabinet decision take place to approve a singular consolidated policy or outline.