In the series "Trap of Prometheus" of Asahi newspaper, which started on January 3, it was described that Mr. Shimizu, TEPCO's president (as of the date), requested to evacuate all staff from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, and Mr. Kan, Prime Minister (as of the date), replied that it was not an option, and Mr. Shimizu answered "Yes, certainly." with bowing his head. The facts regarding this are as follows:
The meaning of what Mr. Shimizu said to the prime minister was that "We would like to consider temporary evacuation of the staff who are not related to stabilization works of the plants directly, which will be necessary soon since the plant is in a severe condition." He never said or considered evacuation of all staff from the site.
Mr. Shimizu was ordered to come to the official residence at 4:30 am on March 15, and was asked by Mr. Kan whether TEPCO intended to evacuate or not. He replied that TEPCO didn't intend to evacuate all of the staffs.
Mr. Kan gave an account of it in the Diet several times.
[Example] Statement in the Upper House Budget Committee (April 25, 2011)
"· · · At least what I was reported from a minister on April 15 was that TEPCO intended to evacuate from the site due to dose level. I ordered TEPCO's president to come to the official residence. I asked his intention of evacuation and told him that it was very troublesome if you evacuated from the site. And Mr. Shimizu replied that TEPCO didn't intend to evacuate."
Furthermore, in the series dated on January 10, regarding Mr. Takekuro who stayed at the official residence, it mentions that Mr. Takekuro is "a bridge person between the official residence and TEPCO" or "representative of TEPCO in the official residence for the crisis". However, Mr. Takekuro was dispatched to the official residence to explain the technical matters in response to the request from the official residence.
© Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.
