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On September 19, DPJ President Banri Kaieda responded to reporters’ questions at party headquarters. In response to news that Prime Minister Abe, on a to visit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant earlier that same day, had called on Tokyo Electric Power Corporation (TEPCO) to scrap units 5 and 6, he commented, “We have been saying all along that [these units] should be scrapped, so I think that it is only natural that the Prime Minister should make such a statement.” He added, “TEPCO are saying that they would like to make a decision by the end of this year, and I urge them to do so as soon as possible.”
Furthermore, Kaieda was asked for his take on the disparity between the Prime Minister’s statement that “The contaminated water has been contained in an area of the harbor only 0.3 square kilometres” in size, and the statement made by TEPCO on September 13 at a meeting of the DPJ’s Fukushima No. 1 Strategy Headquarters that “The contaminated water is not under control.” He stated, “[The PM’s statement] differs from what TEPCO stated in the DPJ strategy headquarters meeting, and so I think that we need to investigate further. In particular, I believe that monitoring of the ocean needs to be thoroughly carried out and the results checked and then it will be clear whether what the Prime Minister is saying is true or not.”
Asked what support the state should give to the scrapping of the reactors, Kaieda replied, “[The government says] it will use reserve funds for the interim, but it is necessary not just to use such reserves, but to create a proper [funding] scheme. I think that drafting legislation will also be on the horizon.” With regard to the kind of legislation that would be necessary, he stated that the DPJ would study what would be appropriate, with the focus for discussion being the party’s strategy headquarters, and make its stance public.
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