ID :
175241
Wed, 04/13/2011 - 17:54
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/175241
The shortlink copeid
TEPCO mulls paying provisional damages to evacuees: president
TOKYO, April 13 Kyodo -
The president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it is considering paying provisional damages as soon as possible to residents near its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant who have been evacuated due to radiation fears.
But Masataka Shimizu, chief of the utility known as TEPCO, failed to present specifics on the compensation plan as well as the firm's prospects for bringing the nuclear emergency at the plant under control.
At a packed news conference, Shimizu apologized for one of his company's nuclear plants causing the most serious level of crisis on an internationally recognized scale, on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl explosion.
''We are in the most critical and serious situation since our company was established,'' he said. ''My biggest responsibility now is to make utmost efforts to contain the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and give thorough support to evacuees.''
Adding that resolving electricity shortages is another big task the utility has to fulfill soon, Shimizu said he intends to resign as vice chairman of Japan's most influential business lobby, Nippon Keidanren, and as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan to focus on containing the nuclear crisis.
As for whether he would resign as TEPCO president as a means of taking managerial responsibility, Shimizu said, ''Now is not the time to comment.''
The news conference was held a day after the Japanese government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised the severity level of the ongoing emergency at the plant caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster from level 5 to the maximum of 7 on an international scale.
To speed up support for residents forced to leave their homes and farms due to the nuclear crisis, TEPCO has set up a task force focusing on evacuees and plans to set up a contact office to receive inquiries about compensation for them, Shimizu said.
''We are considering offering necessary money as a temporary expedient,'' to evacuees, he said. But he added that the plan's details, such as the amount of compensation and when it can be offered, are yet to be finalized and that the utility intends to announce such details ''at the earliest possible date.''
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda has said the compensation amount should be around 1 million yen per household.
As the nuclear crisis enters its second month, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the previous day he has ordered TEPCO to produce a timetable for bringing the disaster to an end. Shimizu said his firm is working to do so as soon as possible.
Faced with harsh questions from reporters about the firm's response to the crisis to date, Shimizu repeatedly said he tried his ''best'' in dealing the situation.
Given the expected massive compensation burden as well as other costs related to the plant's problems, TEPCO needs to streamline its operations and cut costs, Shimizu said.
As to the idea of placing TEPCO under state control, he said it would be ''nice'' if it could remain a private company. But he added, ''This is not a situation in which I can comment on how the corporate structure should be.''
Shimizu, who was hospitalized in late March for hypertension and dizziness, said his physical condition is currently fine and that he would devote all his energy to trying to contain the crisis.
Earlier this week, Shimizu visited the Fukushima prefectural government office but Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato rejected a meeting with him. Shimizu said he intends to visit the prefecture again to make an apology.
The Japanese government on Monday added some municipalities around the crippled nuclear plant to evacuation areas due to concerns over cumulative radioactive materials beyond the previously set evacuation zone of a 20-kilometer radius from the plant.
The president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it is considering paying provisional damages as soon as possible to residents near its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant who have been evacuated due to radiation fears.
But Masataka Shimizu, chief of the utility known as TEPCO, failed to present specifics on the compensation plan as well as the firm's prospects for bringing the nuclear emergency at the plant under control.
At a packed news conference, Shimizu apologized for one of his company's nuclear plants causing the most serious level of crisis on an internationally recognized scale, on a par with the 1986 Chernobyl explosion.
''We are in the most critical and serious situation since our company was established,'' he said. ''My biggest responsibility now is to make utmost efforts to contain the current situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and give thorough support to evacuees.''
Adding that resolving electricity shortages is another big task the utility has to fulfill soon, Shimizu said he intends to resign as vice chairman of Japan's most influential business lobby, Nippon Keidanren, and as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan to focus on containing the nuclear crisis.
As for whether he would resign as TEPCO president as a means of taking managerial responsibility, Shimizu said, ''Now is not the time to comment.''
The news conference was held a day after the Japanese government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency raised the severity level of the ongoing emergency at the plant caused by the March 11 quake and tsunami disaster from level 5 to the maximum of 7 on an international scale.
To speed up support for residents forced to leave their homes and farms due to the nuclear crisis, TEPCO has set up a task force focusing on evacuees and plans to set up a contact office to receive inquiries about compensation for them, Shimizu said.
''We are considering offering necessary money as a temporary expedient,'' to evacuees, he said. But he added that the plan's details, such as the amount of compensation and when it can be offered, are yet to be finalized and that the utility intends to announce such details ''at the earliest possible date.''
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda has said the compensation amount should be around 1 million yen per household.
As the nuclear crisis enters its second month, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the previous day he has ordered TEPCO to produce a timetable for bringing the disaster to an end. Shimizu said his firm is working to do so as soon as possible.
Faced with harsh questions from reporters about the firm's response to the crisis to date, Shimizu repeatedly said he tried his ''best'' in dealing the situation.
Given the expected massive compensation burden as well as other costs related to the plant's problems, TEPCO needs to streamline its operations and cut costs, Shimizu said.
As to the idea of placing TEPCO under state control, he said it would be ''nice'' if it could remain a private company. But he added, ''This is not a situation in which I can comment on how the corporate structure should be.''
Shimizu, who was hospitalized in late March for hypertension and dizziness, said his physical condition is currently fine and that he would devote all his energy to trying to contain the crisis.
Earlier this week, Shimizu visited the Fukushima prefectural government office but Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato rejected a meeting with him. Shimizu said he intends to visit the prefecture again to make an apology.
The Japanese government on Monday added some municipalities around the crippled nuclear plant to evacuation areas due to concerns over cumulative radioactive materials beyond the previously set evacuation zone of a 20-kilometer radius from the plant.
