Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

• The resumption of construction of Oma Nuclear Power Station

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Regarding Oma Nuclear Power Station, Mayor Kudo of Hakodate City [in Hokkaido] met with Ms. Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, two days ago, and both sides agreed to seek the freezing of the construction of the nuclear power station and are stepping up their protests. Previously, when I asked, you said that the nuclear operator needs to provide careful explanations. However, it was the Government that approved the resumption of construction. Does the Government have any intention to proactively seek the understanding of Hakodate going forward?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: This is not a matter of whether the resumption of construction is approved or not approved. To begin with, the establishment of the nuclear reactor and the construction plan have already been approved, and I believe I have responded before that we would not be retracting these approvals. Naturally, the resumption of the construction of Oma Nuclear Power Station is up to the judgment of the nuclear operator, J-Power. Furthermore, the jurisdiction over safety regulations has been transferred to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA). Therefore, moving forward, I believe NRA will be confirming the safety by conducting inspections prior to use and through other means based on their independent position. The process going forward will be determined by the nuclear operator and NRA. As I also stated the last time, which was quite a while ago, the Government has no intention of retracting the approvals already granted for the establishment and the construction plan. This is what the Government has always said.

(Abridged)