07/09 Kan: Nuclear crisis 'man-made' / Ex-PM says poor flow of info hindered N-plant accident response

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan during an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun

The ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant should be considered a "man-made disaster," and poor communication with the plant's operator hindered the initial government response, former Prime Minister Naoto Kan has told The Yomiuri Shimbun.

In an exclusive interview, Kan also said he felt "very sorry" for residents of Fukushima Prefecture who would not be able to return to their homes for a long time due to the nuclear crisis.

"There in fact were various opinions [regarding the safety of the plant] before the accident, but no well-thought-out preparations were made," he said. "In that sense, the nuclear accident should be considered a man-made disaster."

Referring to the response to the accident by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission, Kan said the two watchdogs had been "unable to foresee the possibility that all power sources could be lost" at the nuclear complex.

As a result, neither the agency nor the commission could deal effectively with the circumstances that arose after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plant's cooling systems, he said.

Kan said there also were problems with the flow of information from the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The former prime minister said he ended up calling Masao Yoshida, the head of the plant, in a bid to gauge what was actually happening.

Kan revealed that the off-site emergency response center near the plant, though supposed to serve as a front-line command center in the event of a crisis, was vacated soon after the accident.

"As a result, arrangements that had been assumed in accident simulations hardly worked at all," said Kan, who stepped down late last month.

Kan was frustrated by the lack of details TEPCO provided soon after the disaster.

"Although I instructed the utility to vent [vapor in the nuclear reactor containers], TEPCO failed to do this, and I wasn't told of the reasons for that failure," he said. "Even as I sought an explanation for this situation, I couldn't tell whose decisions I was being given. It was like a game of Chinese whispers."

Kan visited Fukushima Prefecture on Aug. 27, the day after he officially announced he would resign as prime minister. He conveyed to the prefectural governor his view that people in some radiation-affected areas might be unable to return to their homes for a long period. He also called for the Fukushima government's approval to have temporary storage facilities for radiation-tainted materials built in the prefecture.

"I felt very sorry for all the victims of the disaster, but I thought it was my responsibility as prime minister in office at the time of the March 11 disaster to speak about the worst possible scenario," he said.

===

Excerpts from Kan interview

Following are excerpts from former Prime Minister Naoto Kan's interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant accident, one of the biggest challenges he faced while in office.

Question: What do you think was the biggest factor behind the nuclear crisis?

Kan: All the crisis-management arrangements that had been made prior to the accident failed to function properly.

Q: Do you wish you had responded differently to the crisis?

Kan: Nobody can be 100 percent perfect, but I believe I did what I should have done.

Q: It seemed the government and TEPCO were often one step behind developments during the crisis.

Kan: That accident was beyond our expectations, so there were no preparations to cope with it properly. It had been assumed there was no possibility the plant's power sources would be lost, so it was only natural that we were one step behind as the crisis unfolded.

Q: When did you contact the head of the Fukushima No. 1 plant, Mr. Masao Yoshida?

Kan: Whenever I needed firsthand information about the conditions at the nuclear plant and what decisions were being made there. Mr. Yoshida gave me adequate answers, but it couldn't be helped that information I obtained from TEPCO's head office was incomplete and insufficient.

Q: Was the lack of accurate information the biggest problem?

Kan: Definitely. That I could not get correct information stemmed from shortcomings in the system.

Q: Was it your idea to have Self-Defense Forces helicopters drop water into pools for storing spent nuclear fuel at the plant reactors?

Kan: That was basically done at my request. The temperature of the spent nuclear fuel pool was rising alarmingly, and the United States was also expressing concern. The SDF operation drastically changed the mood of the people involved. Everybody suddenly became very positive about tackling the crisis.

(Sep. 7, 2011)

06/09 Japan-U.S. alliance must be rebuilt

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The inauguration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's Cabinet should lead to a halt in the erosion of Japan's diplomatic relations of recent years, which is essential for making the nation's voice better heard in the international community.

At a press conference held shortly after his appointment as prime minister, Noda stressed the need to achieve that goal, saying: "The Japan-U.S. relationship is a central pillar of our country's diplomatic and security policy at a time when the world is becoming more and more multipolar. [Bilateral relations] must be deepened and expanded."

Noda is an unknown quantity as prime minister. However, we hope he will steadfastly adhere to this fundamental principle in fulfilling his duties.

The Japan-U.S. alliance has long functioned as a public good to preserve peace and security in the Asia-Pacific basin. Many Asian countries share this perception. Unstable Japan-U.S. ties would harm relations between Japan and its Asian neighbors.

The nation's diplomatic environment has been increasingly unfavorable in recent years. The Noda administration was preceded by short-lived cabinets formed by five prime ministers. This has been compounded by the rise of China and some other newly emerging nations, a development that has undeniably resulted in a relative decline in Japan's national strength as the mainstay of its foreign relations.

===

Put U.S. ties on track

This is particularly evident in the turmoil and stagnation in the Japan-U.S. relationship due to a change of administration that took place two years ago. This paralysis can be attributed to former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's unskilled diplomacy, followed by an ill-conceived attempt by his successor, Naoto Kan, to put off bilateral issues.

With this in mind, the new prime minister must work to bring the nation's tattered external relations back on track, focusing first on shoring up its alliance with the United States.

Noda is scheduled to attend a number of meetings with the leaders of other nations, including a session of the U.N. General Assembly in late September. His diplomatic itinerary for November and beyond also includes a summit meeting of the Group of 20 nations and territories, the East Asia Summit and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The prime minister must use these diplomatic opportunities to establish trust with U.S. President Barack Obama and other national leaders. Doing so is essential to defend our national interests.

He must also take specific actions to resolve pending issues facing Japan and the United States and not just follow the steps taken by his predecessors, Hatoyama and Kan, who both had only harped on "a deepening" of the bilateral alliance.

Washington has called on Tokyo to make "concrete progress" in settling the dispute over the transfer of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture "within one year." Failure to do so could prompt the U.S. administration to drastically reconsider a plan to relocate U.S. marines in the prefecture to Guam.

Noda must do all he can to overcome the gridlock in the Futenma controversy through talks with leaders and residents in Okinawa Prefecture. This task requires the prime minister to join hands with Cabinet members related to the dispute--Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa and Tatsuo Kawabata, state minister for Okinawa and Northern Territories affairs.

===

Promote talks with China

It is no less important for Noda to promote dialogue with China.

The collisions between a Chinese fishing boat and two Japanese vessels in waters off the Senkaku Islands in September last year strained bilateral ties. Although summit talks among Japan, China and South Korea have since taken place, Tokyo and Beijing remain caught in a standoff over natural gas field exploration in the East China Sea and other bilateral problems.

The prime minister should step up security talks between Japan and China while also increasing bilateral economic and trade cooperation. Living up to this responsibility is essential to realizing what is called a "strategically reciprocal relationship" between Tokyo and Beijing, instead of leaving the mutually avowed goal an empty slogan.

The Noda administration also must decide, as soon as possible, whether to send Self-Defense Forces personnel to South Sudan for a U.N. peacekeeping mission, another decision his predecessors put off.

We hope the Liberal Democratic Party and other opposition parties will agree to abandon the unreasonable practice established over the years of restricting visits to other countries by prime ministers and foreign ministers.

For years, opposition parties have insisted that attendance at Diet sessions by such political figures must take precedence over overseas travel on official business. The public does not even begin to understand why the country's national interests must be compromised because its prime minister and foreign minister are prevented from visiting other nations under what can only be described as a misguided rule meant to preserve "the authority of the Diet."

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Sept. 5, 2011)

(Sep. 6, 2011)

首相不信が民主に波及…無党派、厳しい視線

世論調査

　読売新聞社の全国世論調査で、菅内閣支持率が、民主党政権としても最低を記録したことは、退陣表明以降も「居座り」を続ける菅首相に対する有権者の強い不信感を浮き彫りにした。


　内閣支持率は、退陣表明直後に実施した６月調査では３１％だったが、７月には２４％に下がり、今回は１８％に落ち込んだ。

　首相に対して特に厳しい視線を向けているのは支持政党なしの無党派層だ。無党派層に限ってみると、内閣支持率は２１％（６月）→１６％（７月）と続落し、今回はわずか１１％となった。

　足元の民主党の支持層でも離反は著しい。民主支持層の内閣支持率は、６月６４％、７月６２％と６０％台を維持したが、今回は５４％まで下がった。

（2011年8月8日00時14分 読売新聞）

05/06 Thủ tướng Kan bị áp lực từ chức sớm

Chủ Nhật, 05/06/2011 23:00

Sức ép đòi Thủ tướng Naoto Kan từ chức sớm tiếp tục gia tăng bất chấp việc ông vừa vượt qua cuộc bỏ phiếu bất tín nhiệm tại quốc hội.

Phe đối lập - đang kiểm soát thượng viện và có thể ngăn chặn việc thông qua các dự luật – vẫn đang từ chối hợp tác với chính phủ của ông Kan trong việc ban hành những đạo luật quan trọng.

Phát biểu tại một cuộc tranh luận trên đài truyền hình NHK hôm 5-6, Tổng Thư ký Đảng Dân chủ Tự do (LDP) đối lập Nobuteru Ishihara cho biết: “Chúng tôi muốn thủ tướng từ chức càng sớm càng tốt để có thể nhanh chóng thiết lập một khuôn khổ mới”. Ông Ishihara nói ông Kan nên từ chức trong tháng này. 

Thủ tướng Nhật Bản Naoto Kan đối mặt với nhiều sức ép đòi ông từ chức sớm. Ảnh: GETTY IMAGES

Trong khi đó, Tổng Thư ký Đảng Dân chủ Nhật Bản (DPJ) cầm quyền Katsuya Okada nói việc ra đi vào thời điểm nào sẽ do ông Kan quyết định. Tuy nhiên, ông Shizuka Kamei, thủ lĩnh Đảng Nhân dân mới nằm trong liên minh cầm quyền, nói ông Kan sẽ sẵn sàng từ chức trong tháng 8.

Ông Kamei cho đài truyền hình Asahi biết: “Suy nghĩ thực sự của ông Kan là hoàn thành những gì cần làm vào cuối tháng 8. Đó là ý tưởng được chia sẻ khi chúng tôi gặp nhau”.

Trước thềm cuộc bỏ phiếu bất tín nhiệm nói trên, Thủ tướng Kan cam kết sẽ từ chức một khi xử lý xong những vấn đề mà đất nước đang đối mặt sau thảm họa động đất, sóng thần hôm 11-3.

Sau đó, ông Kan tỏ ý cho biết ông muốn tại vị cho đến năm tới, gây ra phản ứng giận dữ từ những người chống đối.

Hãng tin Reuters nhận định sự ra đi sớm của ông Kan có thể giúp mở đường cho một liên minh với phe đối lập để có thể ban hành những luật liên quan đến vấn đề ngân sách và tái thiết cho khu vực bị sóng thần tàn phá.

Hoàng Phương

04/06 Japanese PM plans to resign by August: media

English.news.cn   2011-06-04 20:50:34

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TOKYO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan plans to step down by August, Kyodo News reported on Saturday, citing aides sources.

Japan's opposition parties submitted the no-confidence motion against Kan Wednesday, in a bid to bring down the Prime Minister due to his unsatisfactory handling of post-quake crisis.

Kan survived a no-confidence vote on Thursday after he said he would step down once the country's recovery from the great earthquake and tsunami takes hold at a party meeting just before the vote.

However, ruling and opposition lawmakers slammed Kan on Friday, as he hinted that he would remain in power until around January, when the crippled Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant reaches the target of being under control.

Kan's predecessor Yukio Hatoyama, who supported the premier and voted against the no-confidence motion on Thursday on condition that Kan would quit soon, denounced Kan for backpedaling on his word, saying Kan "should not act like a crook."

Hatoyama threatened to "take action," saying he will call for a general assembly of all DPJ lawmakers from both houses of parliament to grill Kan if he refuses to heed calls for his early resignation.

Editor: Fang Yang

Japan's opposition bloc submits no-confidence vote against Kan

English.news.cn   2011-06-01 17:31:42

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Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan attends a debate in Tokyo, Japan, on June 1, 2011. Three Japanese opposition parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), submitted to the lower house a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Naoto Kan Wednesday, in a bid to step up efforts to bring him down. (Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng)

TOKYO, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Three Japanese opposition parties, including the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), submitted to the lower house a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Naoto Kan Wednesday, in a bid to step up efforts to bring him down.

The move came at a time when public support in Kan's Cabinet is faltering over the way it handled the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear power plant.

A survey by Mainichi Daily News revealed in May that the majority of Japanese people are dissatisfied with the government's post-disaster handling in the wake of the March 11 disasters,

About 23 percent said that they were completely dissatisfied with the way the government had dealt with the ongoing incident at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear power plant, while 45 percent said they were not very satisfied, the poll showed.

In addition, dissatisfaction is also simmering within the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with some lawmakers close to former party chief Ichiro Ozawa reportedly saying that they may turn against Kan.

22/04 豪首相、火力発電燃料の安定供給を確約 菅首相と会談

会談を前にギラード豪首相（左）と握手を交わす菅直人首相＝２１日午後６時３６分、首相官邸、飯塚悟撮影

　菅直人首相は２１日、訪日したオーストラリアのギラード首相と会談した。ギラード首相は火力発電の燃料となる液化天然ガス（ＬＮＧ）について、市場価格での安定供給を確約。レアアース（希土類）も「輸出にあたって常に日本を念頭に置いている」と伝えた。

　菅首相は会談後の共同記者会見で、救助隊派遣など、震災へのオーストラリアの支援に謝意を表明。年内に開催予定の外務・防衛閣僚協議（２プラス２）で、防災面での協力も話し合うことを明らかにした。また、福島第一原発事故を受けた原発の安全基準づくりに向け、国際原子力機関（ＩＡＥＡ）の枠組みの中で協力を強化することで一致した。

　農産品の扱いが交渉のネックになっている日豪の経済連携協定（ＥＰＡ）については、菅首相が「できるだけ早い時期に話し合いを再開したい」と話し、ギラード首相は歓迎する意向を示した。

01/04 １号機ベント作業、首相視察の１時間後に

　首相官邸の初動対応で、「菅首相の行動が裏目に出た」との批判が出ているのが福島第一原発の視察だ。

　地震発生から一夜明けた１２日早朝、首相を乗せた陸上自衛隊のヘリコプターが官邸屋上から同原発に向かった。「とにかく現場が見たい」との首相の強い意向で、視察は約５０分続いた。当時、１号機は原子炉格納容器内の圧力が高く、首相が視察にたつ約３時間前には、海江田経済産業相らが弁を通じて高圧の蒸気を放出するベント作業を急ぐよう指示。だが、実際の作業着手は、首相が視察を終えた１時間後だった。

　枝野官房長官らは視察の影響を否定するが、蒸気放出で放射性物質も原子炉外部に拡散するため、「首相に危険を及ぼさぬように作業を遅らせた」（自民党幹部）との見方が広がった。

（2011年4月1日09時32分 読売新聞）

27/03 ANALYSIS: Japan PM safe in job for now, at risk when crisis over

REUTERS
2011/03/27

Bit by bit, the gloves are starting to come off.

The media and opposition politicians who muted their criticism of Japan's government as it struggled with the triple calamities of a massive earthquake, tsunami and a crippled nuclear plant are growing more vocal, a prelude to fiercer attacks that will come when the crisis fades.

That bodes ill for Prime Minister Naoto Kan, whose grip on power was weakening before the deadly March 11 earthquake struck and who could well face pressure to resign once the uneasy political truce inspired by the disaster ends.

"In a paradoxical way, as long as the situation is critical, he is secure, but if he succeeds in containing the crisis, he will be criticised," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.

"I'm not sure any politician at the helm would have made much difference, but it's natural that when people relax, they will vent anger."

Kan's resignation could conceivably clear the way for a rejigged ruling coalition, and that would break a parliamentary deadlock that has kept Japan from crafting policies to address the country's most profound problems, a fast-ageing society and huge public debt.

But pessimists wonder if any replacement of Kan -- already Japan's fifth premier since 2006 -- would do any better.

Kan, 64, was already in danger before the disaster struck.

His voter approval rating had sunk to around 20 percent, opposition parties -- which control parliament's upper house -- were blocking budget bills to force a snap election that his Democratic Party (DPJ) was at risk of losing, and critics inside the DPJ were pressing him to quit to revive their fortunes.

Since the disaster, the pressure on Kan has faded as critics inside and outside the ruling party tried to avoid the appearance of political manoeuvring at a time of crisis.

Opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leader Sadakazu Tanigaki has refused a request to join the cabinet, but he has pledged to cooperate in what could be Japan's costliest reconstruction effort since its defeat in World War Two.

Kan has mostly shunned the public in the past two weeks, giving three news conferences but taking few questions since the earthquake and tsunami, which devastated northeast Japan, killed at least 10,000 people and probably thousands more, and turned a nuclear power plant north of Tokyo into a radiation-leaking wreck.

One day after the quake hit, Kan flew by helicopter to view the crippled nuclear complex, and was widely reported to have dashed to the headquarters of the facility's operator to blast executives there for mishandling the crisis.

Both actions have come under fire.

"As top commander, the prime minister's role is to remain firmly at his office ... and coordinate," Sadatoshi Ozato, a former lawmaker from the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, was quoted as saying by the Sankei newspaper on Saturday.

"The top commander shouldn't be absent because he is flying in a helicopter or going to the power company," said Ozato, who was minister for disaster measures after the 1995 quake that struck the western city of Kobe, which killed more than 6,400.

More than 700 workers have been mobilised to stabilise the plant and some progress has been made, but fresh fears were raised on Thursday when three workers were exposed to highly radiated water, sparking concerns about further contamination and delays to efforts to move beyond ad hoc cooling measures.

Concern and confusion also grew after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Friday that the government was urging thousands of people living in a 20-30 km (12-19 mile) radius zone beyond the stricken complex to leave voluntarily, but would not for now widen a 20 km evacuation zone.

"It will be hard to avoid the weak, such as the elderly and sick, being left behind," the Yomiuri newspaper quoted LDP lawmaker Yasutoshi Nishimura as saying.

Such criticism may remain mild as long as the nuclear crisis persists and tsunami survivors in the northeast, where more than a quarter of a million are in shelters, are still suffering.

"If the situation at the Fukushima plant stabilises -- though we don't know when that will be -- intense criticism will emerge," said political commentator Minoru Morita.

A Supreme Court ruling last week urging parliament to correct a big disparity in the weight of electoral votes between rural and urban districts makes a snap poll unlikely in the near term.

Kan's resignation might clear the way for a broad coalition between the Democrats and the LDP, making it easier to tackle long-stalled reforms.

"If he goes, the LDP will consider a coalition. That is really the only path forward," analyst Morita said.

Others, however, were less sanguine. "I don't see any alternative that would make things better," Nakano said.

28/03 ドイツで「緑の党」州首相誕生へ、原発安全が争点

　【ベルリン＝三好範英】ドイツ南西部バーデン・ビュルテンベルク州で２７日、州議会選挙が行われ、福島第一原発事故で独国内の原発の安全性が最大の争点となる中、脱原発を掲げる環境政党、９０年連合・緑の党が大躍進を遂げた。

　これで、基幹産業が集まる保守の牙城である同州に緑の党の州首相が誕生する見通しとなった。実現すると、ドイツで緑の党が発足した１９８０年以来、初めてとなる。

　２７日深夜の選管発表によると、緑の党は得票率２４・２％と前回選挙に比べてほぼ倍増。得票率２３・１％の社会民主党（ＳＰＤ）との合計獲得議席は過半数に達し、両党の連立による政権交代は確実となった。連立政権が誕生すると、州首相には、緑の党の州議会議員団長ウィンフリート・クレッチュマン氏が選出される見通し。同氏は２７日夜、「今や我々は歴史的な転換点に達した」と勝利宣言した。

（2011年3月28日10時48分 読売新聞）