Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

REPORTER: I have a question regarding the rebuilding of Tokyo Electric Power Company's (TEPCO) finances. Today, when Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yukio Edano met with TEPCO President Toshio Nishizawa, the Minister indicated his view that as a condition for approving the Comprehensive Special Business Plan being formulated by March to help rebuild TEPCO's finances, TEPCO would have to grant the Government some level of control. This is seen as a move that is expected to lead to TEPCO's de facto nationalization. Is this the understanding that is uniformly held by the Government vis-a-vis TEPCO?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: Today, Minister Edano met with TEPCO President Nishizawa, Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund Committee Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe, Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund Chair Takehiko Sugiyama, and others. I understand that the Minister expressed the view that even if a Comprehensive Special Business Plan that requests capital injection is submitted without giving the Government sufficient voting rights proportionate to the injection amount, the Minister has no intention of approving such a plan. Whether or not the Fund will inject capital into TEPCO and how this will be done are matters that concern the contents of the Comprehensive Special Business Plan expected to be formulated by March and are matters currently being examined by the Fund and TEPCO. At this moment in time, the Government has neither thought about nor decided on anything definitive.

(Abridged)

REPORTER: Concerning the restart of nuclear power stations, right now, indeed today, the results of the stress tests are being reported by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) to the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC). This marks a step forward. What are the Government's thoughts on the pace of the progress?

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: I believe that NISA compiled the results of its review of Reactors 3 and 4 of Oi Nuclear Power Station today and that NSC will be confirming the validity of NISA's evaluation moving forward. In any case, with regard to the restart of the nuclear power stations currently shut down for routine inspections, I believe, based on the methodology reviewed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the end of January, that NISA will be confirming the evaluation results of the stress tests conducted by nuclear operators, and that after the validity of the results has been confirmed by NSC starting today, a final decision will be made at the political level, also taking into account whether the communities' understanding and public trust have been obtained.

(Abridged)