Announcements
Remarks about the sixth meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Council concerning the Continuous Implementation of the Basic Policy on Handling of ALPS Treated Water

August 22, 2023

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.

We would like to apologize for the great concern and burden that has been put on the people of Fukushima, and society as a whole, as a result of the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident.

At the sixth meeting of the Inter-Ministerial Council concerning the Continuous Implementation of the Basic Policy on Handling of ALPS Treated Water held today, the entire Government examined the status of initiatives implemented to date to ensure the safety of the disposal of ALPS treated water and prevent reputational damage. The Japanese Government announced that it had made a decision in regards to the commencement period of the discharge of ALPS treated water into the sea and asked that TEPCO begin preparations for the commencement of discharge.

As the entity in charge of the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, TEPCO is strictly abiding by the Government's decision and its request, and we shall quickly move forward with preparations to commence discharge with the utmost vigilance in accordance with the implementation plan that was approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
The discharge of ALPS treated water into the sea is part of the decommissioning process and a long-term/continuous initiative. With our strong determination to prevent reputational damage during this period, TEPCO shall devote all of its resources to ensuring the safety and quality of facility operation, speedily obtaining monitoring results and disseminating that information in an accurate and easy-to-understand manner, ensuring transparency through IAEA reviews, etc., implementing reputational damage countermeasures, and providing suitable compensation should damages be incurred.
Furthermore, in order to ensure that the local community, and society as a whole, can live and continue their livelihoods with peace of mind, we shall continue to carefully explain the current state of decommissioning and safety measures, etc., sincerely address the concerns of society, and respond to the requests of the community one by one to address its needs.

In order to steadily move forward with these initiatives, and, in particular, ensure that nothing is overlooked during the initial stages of sea discharge, we shall quickly create a corporate structure* by which upper management ascertains field conditions in a timely manner, and the entire company devotes all its resources interdepartmentally in order to quickly solve issues.

TEPCO will continue to prioritize safety while steadily moving forward with decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and treated water countermeasures while fulfilling its "responsibilities to Fukushima" in order to enable recovery in the region.

*Corporate function strengthening

• 1.  

  Enabling corporate executives to better ascertain field conditions (the Vice- President shall reside on, and supervise, the site, and the President shall visit the site)

• 2.  

  A project team under the direct supervision of the President shall be created to manage interdepartmental cooperation between the power stations, and departments responsible for preventing reputational damage and providing compensation, etc.

• 3.  

  A department specializing in the impact of the discharge of ALPS treated water into the sea and devoted to the unified management of information dissemination, reputational damage countermeasures, and compensation shall be established, and an officer shall be put in charge of the department.