Fukushima : Một công ty Nhật nói với công nhân che giấu mức nhiễm xạ

Cảnh sát Nhật lắp đặt những tấm bản quy định những ai có thể vào bên trong khu vực Fukushima (REUTERS /Kyodo

Đức Tâm

Theo báo chí Nhật Bản số ra ngày hôm nay, 21/07/2012, một doanh nghiệp nhận thầu của TEPCO, tập đoàn khai thác điện hạt nhân Fukushima, đã nói với các nhân viên che giấu mức độ nhiễm xạ thật trên công trường Fukushima sau khi xẩy ra tai nạn.

記者の目：震災１年 新たなエネルギー政策＝西川拓（東京科学環境部）

　◇再稼働急ぐ前に「脱原発」探れ

　東京電力福島第１原発事故を受けて菅直人・前首相が表明し、野田佳彦・現首相も「引き継ぐ」と言ったはずの「脱・原発依存」だが、その後ほとんど政治の話題に上らなくなった。野田首相の頭の中は消費税増税で占められているのか、今国会の施政方針演説でも強い決意が感じられなかった。毎日新聞が実施した世論調査などでは７割が脱原発路線を支持している。ならば、代替エネルギーの積極的開発を表明するなど、原発後への具体的な道筋を早く国民に示すのが政治の責任だ。

　◇技術は不完全

05/11 Japan’s nuclear conundrum: The $64 billion question

Once the Fukushima nuclear plant is stable, the government should temporarily nationalise its operator

Nov 5th 2011 | from the print edition

“THIS is a war between humans and technology. While that war is being fought, we should not talk about bankruptcy.” So says a Japanese official responsible for channelling the first tranche of ¥5 trillion ($64 billion) in government support to Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) following the meltdown of its three reactors at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant after the tsunami on March 11th.

The support has two valid aims. It helps pay compensation to the 89,000 people forced to abandon their homes within a 20km (12.5-mile) radius of the plant: in the twilight zone only farm animals and the odd feral ostrich roam the streets (see article). It also spares Tepco the chaos of insolvency as it races towards a year-end deadline for Fukushima’s full shutdown.

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• The devil in the deep-sea oil
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02/10 Tests show all 143 reactors in EU safe

Takehito Kudo / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

BRUSSELS--All 143 nuclear reactors in 14 European Union countries that were subjected to "stress tests" are considered free from grave safety risks, according to interim reports disclosed by Friday.

A stress test is a new, more stringent type of reactor resilience inspection to determine safety risks.

The nuclear power plant operators of the 14 nations have submitted the interim reports to the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, via the respective countries' nuclear regulatory organizations.

21/09 Actions speak louder than words over cold shutdown goal for Fukushima nuclear reactors

In this photo taken on Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011, and released Saturday, Sept. 17, 2011 by Tokyo Electric Power Co., a giant panel is lifted up by a crane to build a tent to cover Unit 1 reactor building at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

Achieving a "cold shutdown" of a nuclear reactor is not difficult as long as the reactor is not broken. A cold shutdown is defined by experts as a situation in which nuclear reactors whose operations are suspended are being stably cooled down and the temperatures in them are kept below 100 degrees Celsius.

However, it is no easy task to achieve a cold shutdown at the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant where fuel has melted and holes have developed in damaged reactors.

Goshi Hosono, state minister for the prevention of nuclear accidents, told the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) annual general meeting under way in Vienna that Tokyo will do its best to achieve a cold shutdown of the stricken reactors at the plant by the end of this year. His remark suggests that the government intends to bring forward its target of achieving a stable cool-down of the troubled reactors and of substantially reducing the amount of radioactive substances released from the plant by January 2012.

01/10 Panel queries TEPCO rates / Customers pay price for flawed accounting, wasteful spending

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Tokyo Electric Power Co. overstated the costs incurred in running its power-supply business over the past 10 years by 618.6 billion yen in reports submitted to the government about how the utility's electricity charges are determined.

The disparity is mentioned in a final draft report that has been drawn up by the independent government panel assessing TEPCO's financial conditions.

The third-party committee has raised questions about TEPCO's method for deciding power-usage rates, suspecting the utility's pricing mechanism has led to inflated prices.

TEPCO has long used the same method to determine pricing, a formula that takes into account personnel and fuel costs, expenditure on investment in power-generation and transmission equipment, plus a certain percentage of profits.

Critics say TEPCO's pricing system is one reason for the utility's failure to improve operational efficiency.

The panel's final draft report emphasizes the need for TEPCO to undergo reforms, and says that having a power-supply monopoly in its service area has negatively affected the utility's business efficiency.

One focus of attention is whether the panel's reference to the 618.6 billion yen disparity between TEPCO's claimed expenses and the actual costs incurred could pave the way for a fundamental review of the utility's pricing system.

TEPCO told the third-party panel it would be able to reduce costs by about 1.19 trillion yen, but the panel said cuts of up to 2.41 trillion yen would be possible.

The panel said the large gap between the two estimates is because TEPCO has not done enough to improve material procurement by its group companies.

The report said: "Most of the group's major companies have a higher profit margin in deals with TEPCO than they do in deals with other companies. In some cases, group companies effectively offset losses from deals with other companies by making deals with TEPCO."

In other words, TEPCO has provided financial support to group companies via sweetheart deals. The report identified such arrangements as an example of TEPCO's inefficient management.

In addition, the report said: "There were many cases of sales agency firms mediating deals" between TEPCO and suppliers of materials.

"The amounts paid [by TEPCO] to such sales agency firms could be reduced," the report said.

If TEPCO revises its dealing with group companies and ends the practice of overly generous deals, some of the group companies may be unable to survive, leading to job losses.

Industry analysts said this is one reason why TEPCO has not taken major steps to address the situation.

In the early stages of the panel's investigation, TEPCO suggested it might raise electricity charges by about 15 percent.

The utility was anxious about the deterioration of its financial health due to the huge bill for compensation payments and the costs involved in decommissioning nuclear rectors.

But the committee's report expressed skepticism about the utility's method of deciding electricity charges.

Electric power companies have to report their expected total costs in advance to the government, and that figure is used as the basis for deciding how much the power companies can charge for electricity.

The panel's report says TEPCO's estimates over the past 10 years exceed actual costs by 618.6 billion yen in total.

TEPCO has lowered its electricity charges four times in the past 10 years, but the panel said the rates could be reduced even further.

The panel said TEPCO's estimates included expenditure on advertisements promoting new electricity-powered devices; donations; purchases of books and other expendables; corporate welfare for employees; contributions to the Federation of Electric Power Companies and other business organizations; and other miscellaneous expenses.

The panel's report concluded, "It is necessary to fully investigate whether such expenses should be borne by ordinary customers."

If TEPCO is made to revise its method of deciding electricity charges, similar reforms will likely have to be made at other regional electric power companies.

(Oct. 1, 2011)

01/10 TEPCO compensation predicted to reach 4.54 tril. yen

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Tokyo Electric Power Co. will have to pay an estimated 4.54 trillion yen in damages over the two-year period following the outbreak of the disaster at its Fukushima No. 1 power plant, according to a government panel scrutinizing the utility's financial standing in connection with compensation payments.

According to a draft of a final report compiled by the Study Committee on Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Management and Financial Conditions, TEPCO should cut 2.41 trillion yen in personnel and other business costs over the next 10 years, about double the amount projected in business restructuring plans TEPCO has submitted to the government.

Chaired by lawyer Kazuhiko Shimokobe, the panel will officially announce the report after presenting the final draft to Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Monday at the earliest, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

In reference to the utility's cost-cutting efforts, the panel says in the draft that TEPCO is believed to have set its electricity rates higher than the actual cost of producing it, leading to higher power bills than in other countries.

The study panel's report is designed to serve as a basis for devising a program for TEPCO's special operational plans, which are to be compiled as a precondition for the utility to seek assistance from the state-backed Nuclear Damage Compensation Facilitation Corporation over massive compensation payments necessitated by the nuclear crisis, panel officials said.

The draft report divides damages payments into three major categories:

-- Damage caused by government evacuation orders.

-- Damage due to radiation fears.

-- Indirect damage suffered by business partners.

The estimates are based on the premise that the problems of at least 150,000 evacuees will continue for two years from the outbreak of the Fukushima disaster.

Compensation for damage related to evacuation orders is estimated at 577.5 billion yen, on the assumption that evacuees have completely lost the value of their land, buildings and other properties.

Damage to business operations and job losses also are included in this category, bringing its total to 1.92 trillion yen.

Compensation for losses by such people as farmers and tourist companies due to radiation fears has been estimated at 1.3 trillion yen.

On the business restructuring plans worked out by TEPCO to secure funds to cover part of the compensation payments, the draft report says the company's cost-cutting goal of 1.18 trillion yen over the next 10 years should be doubled to 2.41 trillion yen.

The company's electricity generation costs can be reduced significantly by such efforts as ending inefficient procurement of equipment through TEPCO's affiliated firms, according to the draft.

The panel calls for a review of the utility's current formula of calculating power bills, which is called the cost-plus pricing system. It allows TEPCO, like other power utilities, to pass on power generation costs, such as personnel and fuel costs, plus a certain margin, to consumers.

The power generation costs declared by TEPCO when deciding on power bills have totaled 618.6 billion yen more than actual spending in the past decade, the draft says, and it calls for improved methods of calculation.

(Oct. 1, 2011)

30/09 Reactor No. 2 cooled to below 100 C

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The temperature at the base of the No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant fell below 100 C for the first time since the March disaster, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.

TEPCO said the temperature was 99.4 C at 5 p.m. Wednesday. This means TEPCO has brought the temperatures at the base of the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the crippled plant to below 100 C, meeting one of the two conditions for the reactors to be in a stable cooling state, known as cold shutdown.

Compared with the Nos. 1 and 3 reactors, it took more time for TEPCO to cool the No. 2 reactor. On Sept. 14, the utility started increasing the amount of water injected into the reactor gradually from three to four tons per hour. The company also introduced a new method of spraying water from overhead like a shower. As a result, the amount of water injected into the No. 2 reactor reached 10 tons per hour by Monday.

Achieving cold shutdown is a major milestone in the Step 2 phase of the government's road map to contain the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. The government aims to complete Step 2 within the year. Achieving this will allow the government to move ahead with its study on whether it should allow evacuees to return home.

In addition to bringing the temperatures below 100 C, TEPCO needs to curb the leakage of radioactive substances from the plant significantly--another condition of cold shutdown.

(Sep. 30, 2011)

30/09 「避難生活で体調悪化」７割超…福島・楢葉町

　東京電力福島第一原発事故で、大半が警戒区域にある福島県楢葉町が全世帯を対象に行ったアンケート調査で、避難生活中に体調が悪化した家族がいる世帯が７割以上に上ることがわかった。

　家族が病院に通う世帯も７割近いが、かかりつけ医の不在や治療費の心配などから必要な治療を受けていないケースも１割強に上った。収入が減った世帯も６割余で、避難者が健康や経済面で厳しい状況にあることがうかがえる。

　町が８月に全２９００世帯にアンケートを郵送し、１９９５世帯（６８・８％）から回答を得た。町民の多くは、隣のいわき市や役場機能がある会津美里町の仮設住宅や民間借り上げ住宅などに避難している。

　体調が「（避難生活で）非常に悪くなった家族がいる」１７・７％、「少し悪くなった家族がいる」５３・８％で、合計７１・５％。病院などに「通院している」は６６・６％だが、「必要だがかかっていない」が７・３％、「治療を中断」も５・５％。その理由は「かかりつけの医療機関ではない」が４０・７％と多く、「近くに適当な医療機関がない」２１・４％、「治療費や交通費が心配」１８・５％と続いた。「先の見通しがつかず、精神的につらい」は７２・２％に上っている。

（2011年9月30日03時02分 読売新聞）

30/09 東電の当面の賠償額４兆５４００億円に

　福島第一原子力発電所で事故が起きた東京電力の経営状況を調べている政府の第三者委員会の報告書最終案の全文が２９日、明らかになった。

　東電が当面負担する賠償金総額は４兆５４０２億円と見積もった。また、東電が提出したリストラ策が不十分と指摘し、今後１０年間で東電が想定した約２倍にあたる２兆４１２０億円の経費節減が可能とした。また、電気料金を決める際の算定根拠となる原価が実際より高く見積もられ、料金高止まりの一因になっているとの見方を示した。

　報告書は政府の「経営・財務調査委員会」（下河辺和彦委員長）がまとめ、１０月３日にも野田首相に提出後、発表する予定だ。

　最終案によると原発事故の賠償金を〈１〉政府の避難指示による損害〈２〉風評被害〈３〉間接被害――の三つに分けて試算。事故後２年間に１５万人余の避難者全員の被害が継続することを前提にしている。

（2011年9月30日03時13分  読売新聞）

28/09 Govt N-liability fund may take over TEPCO

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The government's nuclear damage liability fund, which began operation Monday, may put Tokyo Electric Power Co. under its control because costs to decommission reactors at the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are expected to reach several trillion yen.

Former Hitotsubashi University President Takehiko Sugiyama, who became head of the organization on Monday, told a press conference the entity would inject capital into TEPCO and put the utility under public management when the decommissioning costs reach an extremely high level.

Although Sugiyama said the final cost of the decommissioning work is not yet known, he made clear a capital injection by his organization "will be necessary."

The corporation was established to support TEPCO's payment of compensation for damages resulting from the crisis, including those from the spread of radioactive material from the power plant.

Despite the expected costs of several trillion yen for decommissioning the Fukushima No. 1 plant's reactors, TEPCO has only about 1 trillion yen of its own capital.

Therefore, if the company bears the burden only by itself, it is almost certain that its liabilities will exceed its assets.

In this regard, Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano said, "TEPCO has no competition at present [because of its regional monopoly] and profits are surely secured. It is natural that [pay for executives and employees] must be decided in a way similar to that of public employees and staffers at independent administrative institutions."

He was essentially calling on TEPCO to step up efforts to reduce its personnel costs.

Meanwhile, TEPCO President Toshio Nishizawa suggested the firm would study an additional restructuring program, saying "We're not in a situation to consider raising electricity rates."

The company earlier sought an opinion from the government's TEPCO Management and Finance Investigation Committee on a charge hike.

TEPCO and the fund will compile a special program plan in October, which will feature restructuring programs. If Edano does not approve the plan, the government will not extend capital assistance to the firm.

===

Severe programs expected

Sugiyama, the head of the fund's board of directors, emphasized at his press conference, "It is important for us to carefully understand how victims feel now."

In October the fund will establish a local office in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, to answer questions from the victims.

A major focus in terms of TEPCO's management issues will be restructuring programs to be included in the special business project plan that the fund will compile jointly with the utility.

Edano, who will decide whether the government will accept the plan, intends to ask TEPCO to make thorough cuts in expenses, including personnel costs, saying the company's executive and employee pay should be significantly lowered.

Sugiyama also took a stance of not allowing an easy increase in power charges. He said the current system, which allows power companies to decide electricity charges by adding profits onto their actual power generation costs, needs to be reviewed.

With the launch of the fund, worries over how TEPCO will raise money to pay compensation are somewhat eased.

Sugiyama put the amount of necessary money for immediate compensation payments at 3 trillion yen to 4 trillion yen. This amount of money is to be provided by the fund to TEPCO.

However, no money from the fund can be used for decommissioning reactors. Therefore, it is almost certain that the company's liabilities will exceed its assets.

For this reason, Sugiyama thinks it necessary to put TEPCO under public control.

(Sep. 28, 2011)

28/09 福島第一１号機の水素濃度６３％…爆発恐れなし

　東京電力福島第一原子力発電所１号機の格納容器に通じる配管から高い濃度の水素が検出された問題で、東電は２８日、濃度は６３％に上ると発表した。

　配管内で酸素が検出されなかったことから爆発の恐れはないとしているが、東電は２９日に配管内に窒素を注入し、水素を排出する。

　高濃度の水素は、格納容器から放射性物質の漏出を抑えるための排気装置で使用する配管から見つかった。２、３号機でも同様の配管の水素濃度を調べる。

　水素は、事故直後に核燃料が高温になり燃料を覆う金属と水が反応して発生したものとみられる。空気中に４％以上の水素と５％以上の酸素が同時にあると爆発の危険性が高まる。東電では、格納容器の上部やほかの配管にも水素がたまっている可能性があることから、今後の作業では水素がある可能性を前提にして安全対策を行うとしている。

（2011年9月28日20時39分 読売新聞）

28/09 福島第一、１～３号機原子炉１００度以下に

　東京電力は２８日、福島第一原子力発電所２号機の原子炉底部の温度が、同日午後５時時点で９９・４度と、３月１１日の事故後、初めて１００度を下回ったと発表した。

　これで１～３号機すべてで、原子炉を安定して冷却する「冷温停止状態」の２条件の一つである「１００度以下」を達成した。

　１、３号機に比べ原子炉の冷却が遅れていた２号機では、今月１４日から毎時３～４トンだった注水量を徐々に増やし、冷却を進めてきた。原子炉上部からシャワーのように水を入れる手法も新たに導入し、２６日までに注水量を毎時１０トンに増加させた。

　冷温停止状態の実現は、政府が年内をめどに進める事故収束に向けた工程表の「ステップ２」の大きな柱で、避難住民の帰宅に向けた検討を本格化させる目安となる。実現には「１００度以下」の冷却の継続のほか、放射性物質の放出の大幅な抑制が条件となる。東電は、９月上旬の原子炉からの放出量を毎時約２億ベクレルと見積もり、追加放出による敷地境界の線量は目標（年１ミリ・シーベルト）を下回る年０・４ミリ・シーベルトと推定する。しかし、推定精度は低く、東電は放出量を確定させる詰めの作業を進めている。

（2011年9月28日21時20分  読売新聞）

25/09 Noda changing Kan's N-plant stance

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is slowly changing the government's stance on nuclear power generation, which his predecessor, Naoto Kan, wanted to replace with other energy sources.

In July, when he was prime minister, Kan revised the long-held Japanese policy of promoting nuclear power and exports of nuclear technology because of the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Noda seems to be taking a more moderate approach by insisting that a stable electric power supply utilizing nuclear power plants is essential for economic growth.

In his opinion, both economic growth and fiscal health are inseparable for rebuilding the economy.

At a high-level U.N. meeting in New York on nuclear safety and security Thursday, Noda said: "For several years, emerging nations and many other countries around the world have earnestly explored ways of using nuclear energy amid the need for energy security and in response to global warming. Japan supported their efforts and remains steadfast in responding positively to their interest in our undertakings."

This indicated that the prime minister was committed to continuing Japan's policy of exporting nuclear power plant equipment and technology.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday ahead of his visit to the United States, Noda clearly mentioned the timing for reactivating nuclear reactors idled for regular checkups.

Though Noda said the "biggest precondition" was winning the understanding of prefectures where nuclear power plants are located and confirming the safety of the plants, he emphasized, "From spring through summer next year, we must bring them [the reactors] back online as best as we can." He also indicated nuclear power plants now under construction would eventually go online.

Since becoming prime minister, Noda has announced one policy after another.

A government source said this was because Noda wanted "to clearly show other countries that his policies were different from those of the Kan administration."

The prime minister believes that to revitalize the Japanese economy and achieve fiscal health, Japan must secure a stable electric power supply by utilizing nuclear power plants, the source said.

In his first policy speech to the Diet as the prime minister on Sept. 13, Noda said he would compile a new energy strategy, including the use of nuclear power, by summer.

However, political analysts said Noda so far had yet to draw up a long-term energy strategy.

The prime minister pledged in the Diet to "lower reliance on nuclear power plants as much as possible," indicating he would reduce reliance on nuclear power.

Though he drew a clear line between his and Kan's policy, Noda's remarks about the construction of new nuclear power plants or reactors have been ambiguous.

At one point, Noda suggested the number of reactors in service would be zero within a few decades. But on another occasion, he hinted that the construction of new reactors would be possible depending on the situation.

(Sep. 25, 2011)

24/09 Hydrogen detected in pipe at Fukushima No. 1 reactor

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Hydrogen has been detected in a pipe at the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, but there is no possibility it will cause an explosion "in the immediate future," the plant's operator said Friday.

According to Tokyo Electric Power Co., hydrogen of at least 10,000 parts per million was detected at two spots in a pipe passing through the containment vessel on the reactor building's first floor. This concentration was higher than TEPCO had anticipated.

Although TEPCO is not certain how much hydrogen is still inside the vessel, the utility believes it is possible the concentration of the highly flammable gas is higher than had been assumed.

In air and liquid, 10,000 ppm is equivalent to 1 percent. Air containing at least 4 percent hydrogen and 5 percent oxygen is at risk of causing explosion.

TEPCO has been injecting nitrogen into the containment vessel since April so it is assumed there is virtually no oxygen. As a result, the utility ruled out the possibility of an explosion "in the immediate future."

The hydrogen was detected during an examination of the pipe before installation of a radioactive gas purification system inside the containment vessel. TEPCO said it had closely examined the hydrogen concentration and would inject nitrogen into the pipe to flush out the remaining hydrogen.

TEPCO said it had expected hydrogen would still be inside the containment vessel, but that it would have no effect on the radioactive gas purification system.

The nuclear plant's Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactors were damaged by hydrogen explosions in the days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems.

(Sep. 24, 2011)

23/09 EDITORIAL: TEPCO should cut nuclear compensation red tape

2011/09/23

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, has started the procedure of accepting applications for compensation from people who were evacuated because of the nuclear disaster.

Five months have passed since the utility began to pay provisional compensation of 1 million yen (about $13,055) per family to the evacuees. The process of paying the compensation must move as quickly as possible.

However, many problems with the way the utility is dealing with compensation are already emerging.

Firstly, the procedure for submitting compensation claims is too troublesome and complicated. The utility has distributed volumes of documents--a 160-page booklet explaining procedures and a 60-page-long claim form--to each of the 60,000 families that may be eligible.

The scores of technical terms contained in these documents only make entering a compensation claim more difficult. Many elderly evacuees say it is a tall order.

The town of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, has refused to allow TEPCO to hold a meeting to explain the procedures to residents.

The company must not forget the basic principle that it should be putting itself in the shoes of the victims when designing its compensation system. In a Sept. 21 news conference, the utility apologized and promised to increase the number of advisers available to help evacuees make claims.

But it should be doing more to make the procedures themselves easier.

There are other factors that are increasing the burden on the evacuees. The receipts and other documents that must be attached to claim forms are supposed to be originals. That means they cannot be kept for other purposes.

This round of compensation payments covers losses incurred by the end of August. TEPCO's document says that a claim concerning one item can only be made once for each period covered. After submitting a claim, an evacuee receives a sample of an agreement on compensation payment from the utility. It stipulates that the claimant is not allowed to make any complaint or additional claim.

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations, which provides support to victims of the nuclear disaster, has pointed out these problems and urged evacuees to seek advice from legal experts by taking advantage of free counseling sessions organized by local bar associations. We urge TEPCO to improve the situation and call for additional support from experts.

Evacuees are also raising questions and voicing complaints about the proposed compensation payments. One issue that has been raised is the proposed amount of compensation for psychological damage suffered by victims.

According to the interim compensation guidelines formulated by a government panel of experts, each evacuee will receive 100,000 yen per month for psychological suffering, or 120,000 yen per month for any period they spent in an evacuation center, for the first six months and 50,000 yen for each subsequent month.

The panel said the amount is reduced because the inconveniences evacuees have to endure in their daily lives are lessened as they move to temporary housing. However, many evacuees say the emotional strain on them becomes greater the longer they have to stay away from home. After leaving evacuation centers, victims have to pay all their daily expenses out of their own pockets.

Although drops in income due to loss of employment are compensated for, it is clear that the compensation guidelines should be revised.

The panel on compensation held its first meeting in one and a half months on Sept. 21.

There are still many tasks ahead. The panel has confirmed the need for compensation for people in areas outside the government's evacuation zone who evacuated voluntarily and for declines in the value of real estate and other property inside the evacuation zone.

However, it has yet to work out specific guidelines for such payments.

We urge the panel to start working on these and other tasks and to show flexibility in considering revisions of the interim compensation guidelines.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 22

08/07 政府・東電「工程表」一元化へ…原発相

　細野原発相は８日、読売新聞などとのインタビューで、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所事故の収束に向けて政府と東電が別々に公表してきた「工程表」について「政府が一歩前に出て、一体として出す」と述べ、今後は一元化する考えを明らかにした。

　また、「原子炉の安定的な冷却を目指す」とした工程表の「ステップ１」について、目標の７月中旬までに達成できるとの見通しを表明。原子炉を冷温停止状態とすることを目指す「ステップ２」への切り替えを１９日に発表する考えも示した。さらに、原子力の安全規制を担う経済産業省原子力安全・保安院の組織見直しについて、「経産省から完全に分離することは間違いない」と強調した。

（2011年7月8日21時43分 読売新聞）

07/07 Tepco halts cooling system at nuclear plant after sparks

Jul 7, 2011

TOKYO - THE operator of Japan's Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, located near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi plant, on Thursday halted the cooling system at one of its reactors after electrical sparks were detected, Kyodo news agency reported.
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the plant's operator, expects to be able to restore the cooling system at the Daini plant's No 1 reactor before the end of Thursday, Kyodo said.
The Daini plant, about 240km from Tokyo, is located several miles along the Pacific coast from the Daiichi plant, damaged severely by the powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.
The Daini plant suffered less damage from the disasters and is currently in cold shutdown. -- REUTERS

02/07 Winding back the clock / Earlier work hours among energy-saving efforts as firms look ahead to summer

The Yomiri Shimbun

Companies in areas that are supplied power by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. have been striving to meet a 15 percent power cut required by the central government that was introduced Friday.

To meet the goal, some companies are ready to change office hours starting Friday, while others have already moved their production bases to other areas.

Canon Inc. decided to introduce an inhouse daylight saving time system at its Tokyo headquarters, where office hours start one hour earlier at 7:30 a.m. and end an hour earlier at 4 p.m. Employees are expected to work during cool daylight hours and go home earlier than usual to minimize nighttime power consumption.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange also decided to start its office hours at 7:45 a.m. and end at 3:45 p.m., both an hour earlier than usual.

Sharp Corp. announced Thursday that it would start its office hours an hour earlier than usual as well.

Some companies encourage salespeople visiting their business partners to go home, not back to their offices, following their business visits to continue the day's work, in order to reduce power consumption at the office.

Panasonic Corp. set up a power-saving section Friday to review its work system. Among its plans are starting work hours earlier, working on holidays and at night, and advising sales representatives to leave home to meet business clients and then return home directly without going to the office.

NTT Docomo Inc. decided to move days off to Mondays and Tuesdays from conventional weekends.

Hitachi, Ltd., Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. and Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. also decided to designate weekdays as days off.

Some companies moved their manufacturing bases from eastern Japan, which is suffering from serious power shortages, to other areas.

Honda Motor Co. shifted the production base of its new Fit Shuttle model, which went on sale last month, from the originally planned Sayama factory in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture, to the Suzuka factory in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture.

Currently, there is concern over a power shortage in the Chubu region, where Honda's Suzuka factory is located, in the aftermath of the suspended operation of Chubu Electric Power Co.'s Hamaoka nuclear power plant. However, its production has not been affected by the suspension, a Honda executive said.

Nissan Motor Co. decided to suspend production from 2 to 5 p.m. at two factories in the Kanto region.

House Foods Corp. decided to move some operations from daytime to night at its Nara factory in Yamato-Koriyama, Nara Prefecture, and its Higashi-Osaka factory in Higashi-Osaka, Osaka Prefecture.

Ezaki Glico Co. is also considering moving peak production hours from daytime to night at five factories in the Kansai region.

Rakuten, Inc., Fujitsu Ltd. and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. allow employees to wear light, casual clothing, such as polo shirts, at the office as part of their "super cool biz" campaign.

===

Severe heat affects supply

It is difficult to predict how strained this summer's power supply may become.

A power industry source said that although "power demand may drastically decline for some time" if companies reduce power consumption, the situation does not look good.

TEPCO plans to increase its power supply to 53.8 million kilowatts at the end of July and 54.8 million kilowatts at the end of August, reinforcing its power production capacity by reopening thermal power stations and other measures.

However, if companies' efforts to save power are not effective, TEPCO's predicted maximum power demand of 55 million kilowatts in July will exceed supply.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, there is a 40 percent chance that temperatures from July to September will be higher than normal, compared to a 20 percent chance that temperatures will be lower.

Demand for electricity is expected to peak on weekdays in late July, when temperatures rise following the end of the rainy season, as well as early and late August, and early September.

Tohoku Electric has the capacity to supply 13 million kilowatts to 14.8 million kilowatts during peak demand periods, which is likely to fall short of the required supply by between 600,000 and 2.4 million kilowatts.

Tohoku Electric has already increased its power supply by purchasing power from other sources.

It also plans to receive a maximum of 1.4 million kilowatts of power from TEPCO. However, it is not clear whether the plan will materialize as TEPCO's power supply is also tight.

(Jul. 2, 2011)

28/06 At shareholders meeting, Tepco rejects motion to abandon nuclear power

(TORU YAMANAKA/ AFP/GETTY IMAGES ) - Clad in white radiation protection gear, activists of Greenpeace hold a banner denouncing Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) before its shareholders meeting in Tokyo on June 28, 2011.

By Chico Harlan, Published: June 28

TOKYO —At the downtown hotel where Tokyo Electric Power Co. executives met Tuesday with thousands of shareholders, about 250 riot police officers were called in to provide extra security. Anti-nuclear demonstrators crowded the sidewalks. The meeting lasted for six hours, a go-round of apologies and jeers.

Facing shareholders for the first time since the onset of a nuclear crisis with no endpoint, Japan’s largest utility reappointed its chairman and rejected a motion for the company to abandon nuclear energy.

For some in the raucous audience, those status-quo actions reinforced the image of a company that is tone-deaf to the despair it has caused. But the decisions, more tellingly, also signaled why Japan’s national debate over nuclear energy remains a stalemate of painful options.

The nuclear catastrophe at Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi plant has driven about 85,000 Japanese from their homes and pushed the utility toward financial ruin. But reliance on nuclear energy underpins the economy of resource-poor Japan, which since the crisis has even less capacity to take on the economic hardship that nuclear abandonment would bring.

More than 9,000 shareholders attended Tuesday’s annual meeting, triple the record set last year. Some interrupted the meeting with yelling and were ushered out by security. Facing executives seated at the front of the room, one shareholder screamed that the company leaders deserved ritual disembowelment. Another said the executives should “jump into the reactors and die.”

“On behalf of all of the executives, I want to apologize to investors and local people for all the trouble caused by the Fukushima Daiichi accident,” said the company’s chairman, Tsunehisa Katsumata.

Briefly, Katsumata faced a motion calling for his own dismissal, submitted by a shareholder who said, nearly in tears: “If you are really feeling responsible, how dare you serve as chairman.”

Some applauded the statement. But the motion was defeated.

Many in attendance were elderly investors who once viewed Tepco as a safe place to put their money. Since the March 11 disaster, Tepco shares have lost nearly 85 percent of their value. One month ago, Tepco announced that the company had lost $15 billion for the latest fiscal year, which ended in March. The rating agency Moody’s this month cut Tepco’s credit rating to junk status.

Some experts have warned that Tepco, which faces at least $136 billion in compensation payouts, could run short of funds as soon as this fall.

To help meet the compensation claims, Tepco has secured massive emergency loans, and it intends to sell off many of its nonessential assets. It is also considering plans for layoffs and cuts to employee salaries, while asking executives to return bonus payments.

The extent to which Tepco can pay the compensation claims, though, will be largely dictated by a contentious plan currently under debate in parliament. The bill calls for the creation of a new agency — a de facto fundraiser for Tepco — that could draw money from Japan’s major power companies, as well as from special-issue government bonds. Such a rescue plan has already been approved by Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s cabinet, but it so far has gotten little cooperation from the major opposition party.

At the shareholders’ meeting, Katsumata, the chairman, promised that Tepco would pay out the compensation claims as soon as possible. He added that the company was trying its best to stabilize Fukushima Daiichi’s crippled reactors, three of which suffered meltdowns when an earthquake-tsunami combo knocked out the plant’s cooling systems.

The company’s president, Masataka Shimizu, who has already signaled his intention to resign, added that radiation leaks could be under control by mid-July.

The motion to abandon nuclear energy was submitted by a bloc of 402 shareholders. The group has submitted such a proposal every year for two decades, spurred by a lesser nuclear plant malfunction in 1989.

This year, as usual, the motion was roundly defeated, as the bulk of Tepco’s shareholders submitted their votes over the Internet.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is Tepco’s fifth-largest shareholder. The four largest are banks and insurance firms.

Before the March 11 disaster, nuclear energy accounted for one-third of Tepco’s power-generating capacity, according to company data. Tepco has about 30 million customers, supplying power to the Tokyo region.

It is the largest of Japan’s major power companies — and politically powerful as well, with historical ties to the government’s economy and trade ministry, responsible for promoting nuclear power and nuclear safety.