Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

(Abridged)

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: As for the restarting of operations at the Unit 4 reactor of Genkai Nuclear Power Station, it has been determined that the situation for this reactor is different from restarting of operations at power stations that are currently suspended for regular inspections. I am unclear about the distinctions between these two, so could you provide an explanation?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I am not clear about what particular points you are unclear about, however, there is a clear distinction in the response to be made to reactors where operations have been suspended for regular inspections, and to reactors that have been automatically suspended due to some kind of trouble that has arisen during operations. If you look at examples to date of power stations that have automatically been suspended due to some kind of trouble and not due to regular inspections, they are at a stage prior to the stress tests being implemented at power stations that are suspended for regular inspections, and therefore the decision made with regard to Genkai Nuclear Power Station is in accordance with past examples.

REPORTER: On a related note, I think it is difficult for the public to understand why the hurdles for restarting power stations where trouble has occurred are seemingly set so low, in that they do not require the implementation of stress tests. This is in contrast to power stations where there has been no particular trouble but must implement a stress test at the time of regularly scheduled inspections. What are your views on this point?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: In cases where the impact of the trouble has been significant and large-scale inspections similar to regularly scheduled inspections are deemed to be necessary, then there is a possibility that a primary assessment will be required. The case at Genkai Nuclear Power Station involved a mistake in procedures and a response has been made to prevent recurrence. This is the same response that has been made to similar cases of trouble during operation. Naturally the decision is made based on the nature of the trouble that has occurred.

(Abridged)