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Reconstruction following the Great East Japan Earthquake
August 12, 2011(AM)
[Provisional Translation]
Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)
Q&As
(Abridged)
REPORTER: I would like to ask a question about the nuclear safety agency, a question about the problem of how it essentially functions. I think that initially, when the nuclear accident first occurred, there was the problem that the information reaching the Prime Minister's Office was confusing and intricate, and on the other hand I think there was the problem that the instructions from the Prime Minister's Office were not necessarily communicated to the site of the accident accurately. So regarding this new organization, how were these problems discussed, and is it an organization that will be capable of overcoming these problems?
CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY EDANO: Regarding the communication of information immediately after the disaster, speaking frankly, going forward, I think there are many points that must be improved after sufficient examination. I think it is extremely important that third-party verification of the details is carried out in the Verification Committee. However, at the very least I think that the essential cause of the communication problems was not the format of the organizations but rather how they were operated and managed, and the nature of the preparations, and issues like that, and I think that the affiliations of the organizations, for example where the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the ministerial departments that regulate nuclear power belong, had only a minor direct relationship to the current problem. Rather, we did have the problem that the administrative aspects, that is the utilization of nuclear power, and the regulatory aspects were combined in a single organization. Thus, I do not say that the positioning of the organizations had absolutely no effect on crisis management aspects, but I think that no matter what the formats of the organizations are, the essential issues are how they will be operated, what kind of advance preparations will be made, and how we will approach issues like that.
(Abridged)
