Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Opening Statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura

(Abridged)

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I would like to ask about the restarting of nuclear power stations. Yesterday, at a press conference after a meeting of the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC), Chair of the Commission Madarame said that primary assessment of stress tests had been insufficient and that the decision to determine whether or not to operate power stations based on the primary assessment was the judgment of the Government. With Dr. Madarame, who is an expert, saying that he cannot state that the stations are safe, I would like to hear your current recognition regarding whether it is possible for the Government to make a judgment on the restarting of nuclear power stations based on the primary assessment alone.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: Dr. Madarame clearly stated that he would not make a judgment on the restarting of stations. On that basis, he also made many other remarks. Regarding the restarting of nuclear power stations currently suspended for repular inspections, primary assessment of stress tests by power station operators, based on the methods reviewed in the report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of January, will be evaluated by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), ensuring thorough transparency. And furthermore, with its validity - including the confirmation by the NSC of the validity of that process - at the political level we will make a decision, one that includes the points of earning the understanding of the local areas and trust of the public. This will be a comprehensive judgment, nothing more and nothing less.

REPORTER: I believe that the Government positioned stress tests as examinations in which safety was verified and ensured by experts, and an expert has now said that safety could not be sufficiently ensured in the primary assessment. How do you take this statement?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: The expert, Dr. Madarame, stated something to the effect that both primary and secondary assessments would be necessary to respond to a document (from the NSC to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI)) on July 6 last year. I understand this to refer to a comprehensive safety evaluation, and I acknowledge that he also clearly stated that he would not contradict the government policy of judging whether to restart a suspended power station based on the primary assessment, and that he would not deny the government policy.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: I'm sorry to return to the discussion on the restarting of nuclear power stations, but in his Policy Speech and other occasions, the Prime Minister said that the restarting of power stations would occur after earning the trust of the regions for stations where safety had been thoroughly verified and confirmed. Who is the subject of this sentence? Who will be doing this thorough verification and confirmation of safety?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I have spoken on this process many times up until now. Nuclear power station operators will do stress tests. The first assessment is when they say that the station is alright. The "operators" are the subject of that sentence. The next subject will be the NISA, which will evaluate the safety on top of the first assessment. After that, a comprehensive decision will be made on the restarting of power stations at the political level. This includes members of the Cabinet. In the end they will make the judgment. So there are three subjects, and they change in that order.

REPORTER: So safety will be verified at the Cabinet level?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: What that means is that the NSC will guarantee the judgment on the process and so forth for the safety verification. I believe that at the Cabinet level we will be making a political judgment, a comprehensive political judgment of the understanding of the region and the public understanding on this, and so on. Under the leadership of Dr. Madarame, the NSC will be checking whether the NISA had carried out its evaluation according to appropriate process. We are waiting for the NSC's judgment on that.

(Abridged)